Apples
by Mihashi-Harumi-chan
Summary: Emperor Vigarde invaded Renais weeks ago, and has now ordered General Glen, the Sunstone, to kill Eirika. What will happen if Valter's attack did not kill Glen in the end? What if someone finds him in Caer Pelyn and saves his life?
1. Apples

Before I start this story, I would like to explain some things, mainly the title: Apples. Apples are common fruits, and can be found nearly anywhere in the world. Even though they're so common, apples have many meanings, which I would like to explain here so that the title won't seem strange to you in the long run. Apples appear in many religious stories and are sometimes seen as a forbidden fruit, or mystical. In China, apples represent peace, while apple blossoms are a symbol of women's beauty. In some other cultures apples can mean: wisdom, joy, fertility and youthfulness. Apparently, apples were used in love rituals during the Medieval Times in Europe. Love, wisdom, joy, beauty and peace will all be themes in this story, whether you see them directly or not, they will be included somehow.

Also, I would like to say in advance that English is not my first language so if you see a mistake, please tell me what the spelling or grammar errors are, what the correct word is (and preferably WHY my grammar is wrong so that I can learn from this) so that I can fix the errors.

Thank you~

**Chapter 1: Apples**

Weeks had passed since the Grado army had infiltrated the country of Renais and killed their king. The princess and her guard had been able to get away, and it seemed the prince of Renais, Ephraim, was making his way into Grado to get his revenge for the fall of his kingdom. Most other countries were shocked by Grado's sudden actions, and each individual country was deciding whether or not to intervene.

Despite Grado's actions and the uproar it had caused among the other nations, it was a rather quiet day in the Grado Empire. The people were going about their regular things, and the Capitol was extremely busy. None the less, it was nice to walk through the crowded streets of Grado Keep. It was as if the war that was slowly beginning to rise wasn't happening; As if Grado was still in peace with the other countries.

It had been a while for Glen to walk here peacefully. Normally, he was too busy with his training to bother wasting his time on a busy market or street, but today he had finished his duties earlier than expected, and he had decided to enjoy his free time by getting to know the Capitol city of Grado Keep better.

As he walked through the crowd, he noticed he arrived at a market. He had known there was a big market every week, but he never knew it was so close to the emperor's castle. For a moment he just looked around at the large amount of people that had gathered her to do their weekly shopping of food and fruit, fabrics for clothing and other useful things. Glen was quite impressed by the large market, and all the things they sold. He saw stands for cheese, meat, fruit, fish, different kind of fabrics for clothing, a stand that sold pottery, and another one that sold vegetables. There were many merchants from other countries and cities, but most of the people came here every week to sell their crops or fabrics for some money.

Glen casually walked through the crowd, looking at each individual stand. He was really enjoying his time here. The people were nice to him, and the weather was nice.  
At some point, the blonde got lost in thought, thinking about the last time he had been out for anything other than a mission, when he noticed a fruit stand. He then realized he hadn't eaten much all day, and decided to buy some fruit for on his way back to the Castle.

"Good day, sir, miss." He said politely to the man and a woman – probably the man's daughter – who both stood behind the stand. The young woman smiled back at him, she seemed about the same age as he was. She had long, black and slightly curly hair. Her eyes were a deep orange-red color.

"Good day, kid." The man said to him. "What can I do for ya?" Glen looked at the different fruits that were on display, and asked for two pears and a quince. The woman put the two pears and quince in some small sack for him and carefully handed it over to him. As Glen gave some money to the man, and he was about to leave, the woman suddenly spoke: "You seem like the kind of person who enjoys apples." He looked at her, a bit surprised by her sudden claim.

"I'm sorry?"

The woman laughed a little at his surprised expression. "You seem like the kind of person who enjoys apples." She repeated, and began to look for a nice apple between the many on display. "This one looks good. Here, try it. It's on me."

Glen smiled and then declined, not wanting to take away some of their potential income. "I honestly couldn't do that."

"Ah, but I insist. Please, try it." She held up the apple for him, and with a sigh, the blonde accepted it.

"Thank you." Glen said, and was about to reach for some more money when the woman told him that he didn't have to pay.

"It's on me, remember? Please, just take it." The girl's father suddenly started laughing. "Let it go, kid. She does this to everyone, guessing their favourite fruit. She's pretty good at it too. You'll see she's right."

"How about this: you take the apple now without paying for it. If you like it, you buy some next time you're around. If you don't like it, then I'll stop trying." Glen shook his head with a smile.

"I don't think I really have a choice, do I?" He looked at the apple. For a moment he realized he hadn't eaten a single apple in years, and had pretty much forgotten what they tasted like. "All right. We'll see then. Have a good day." And with those words he left for the castle again.

With the sack of pears in one hand and the apple in the other, Glen made his way back to the castle, where he would meet with his brother, Cormag. As he got closer to the castle he finally took a bite from the apple. It was a lot sweeter than he had expected, and much to his surprise, Glen actually liked the taste of the fruit.  
When Glen was halfway done with the apple, his brother, Cormag, came in sight.

"Little brother." Glen spoke, holding up the hand that held the half-eaten apple as a greeting. He then took another bite from the apple as he waited for his brother to stand next to him.

"Hello, brother."

"Cormag. How fare you?"

"I'm doing well, brother. How about you?" He then spotted the apple in his brother's hand. "I didn't know you ate apples…" Glen shrugged.

"Neither did I." He said. "Some lady gave this to me for free when I bought pears." He held up the sack with the pears and the quince. "She said I 'looked like the type of person who enjoys apples'. It seems she was right. This apple isn't too bad."

"Right." Cormag shook his head and grabbed one of the pears Glen had bought, and began eating it. "I prefer pears." He said, and took another bite. "Did you receive any orders from emperor Vigarde yet?"

"No." Glen said, as both of them began walking to the castle grounds. "Nothing yet. But it seems the emperor and the prince are busy lately. We'll probably get new orders soon."

The next week, Glen went back to the market, as he had promised. It was still morning, but he had plenty of time to stop by and buy some fruit and maybe some other food. He looked for the fruit stand. Once he found it, he walked towards the stand and noticed the woman was filling a wicker basket with different types of fruit. She put apples, pears, and some berries in the basket.

This time she was alone; The older man wasn't there.

"Good morning." Glen said, and the woman stopped what she was doing. "Oh, good morning. How can I help you?"

"I would like one of those pears, and an apple, please." The woman smiled.

"Oh, so you liked it?" Glen nodded as a response.

"Yes."

"That's good." She said, and grabbed a pear for him. After that, she walked over to the apples and picked the best one. "Here you go."

Glen held out some golden coins for her, when the blonde man noticed two kids standing next to him.

"Isobel! Isobel! We're here!" The boys yelled at the same time.

"Oh, I'm sorry, please give me a minute." The woman said to Glen, before turning her attention to the two boys. "Thank you for coming so early, boys." She held out the basket she was filling with fruit earlier, and another fruit-filled basket. "Could you two bring these to the orphanage for me, please? I'll give you some coins and some fruit afterwards. Is this all right?" The boys grinned happily and then held out their hands to take over the baskets from her.

"Yes! We will be very quick okay?" One boy said. "I want an apple, please!" The other boy said before both of them ran off. It was easy to see that they immediately took out a bit of the fruit from the basket and ate it themselves, much to Glen's surprise.

"They… Are they eating the fruit from the basket?" The woman, whom he now knew was named Isobel, then turned back to Glen.

"I do hope so… I always put in extra for them." She smiled. "I apologize for the wait. Please, keep your money this time. It's on me."

"No. It's all right. Please," he handed her the coins. "You can't just sacrifice your income like that." Isobel laughed a little. "That's very kind, sir, but I do not do this for the money." Glen looked at her, confused by her words. The woman noticed his confusion, and decided to elaborate her story. "I used to travel between cities every day to sell fruit to others. But I never really needed the money. So now, I just try to keep busy, and try to make people smile."

Make people smile… Even with her attempt to rid him of his confusion, Glen still had no idea what this woman was talking about. He didn't understand why she was here, selling fruit all day, if she had no need for money. There were other ways to kill time, better and more fun ways to do that. But it wasn't his place to judge her for her choices. She didn't seem like a spoiled princess, or the daughter of some rich family. It was quite the opposite; she looked like a very mature and kind woman.  
"All right. But please do take this gold. Give it to those boys, if it pleases you. I have no need for it, and I couldn't stand not paying you again." Isobel took the golden coins from him and smiled.

"Thank you." She said and put the coins in a small box, so she could give it to the boys later when they returned. Isobel then noticed his armor, something she, if she thought back, noticed last time as well. "Can I ask you something?" she asked. As Glen told her she could, she asked him if he was a soldier in the Imperial Army.  
"Yes. I'm very sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Glen."

"Glen… Nice to meet you, sir Glen. My name is Isobel." As they exchanged smiles, another customer showed up. "Good morning, miss. How have you been this past week? How is your husband doing?" Isobel asked the woman. At the same time, she packed some berries for the woman and handed them over to her. She seemed to know this customer well.

"Please, enjoy your day." Glen said, as he was about to leave.

"Oh, yes. You too." As soon as Glen had left, the customer answered Isobel's questions, and they began talking for a while.

For the past few weeks, Glen had come to the fruit stand as often as he could. Preferably a few times a week, just for an apple or two. It had become a part of his routine: He'd wake up, get something to eat – in his case fruit – and then head to the castle for his training, meetings and other duties. He had noticed the older man that he had seen the first day, had never shown up again. He was probably just a volunteer.

When he got to the fruit stand, Isobel was talking to one of her customers. He waited patiently for the conversation to be over and the other woman to leave, before he would greet Isobel and get his apples. As he was waiting, Cormag suddenly appeared.

"Hey brother."

"Ah, Cormag. Good morning."

"What are you doing here, brother?" Cormag asked, but noticed the fruit stand. "Ah, you're buying fruit again. If you don't mind, I am craving a pear now…"

"You're more than welcome to join me." Glen said, still waiting for the chatting between the two women to end. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Just then, Isobel gave the woman a pie, and by the smell of it, it was cherry pie.

"Please," Glen heard her say. "I know it's not much, but I thought that maybe it would make your day a little easier." He saw the woman began to cry, and heard her say she had no money to pay Isobel. But it seemed Isobel wasn't interested in her money. "I know you don't have much. I know you feel like the whole world is against you. But please know you're not alone…" She simply smiled at the woman, and slowly the woman stopped crying. "It's your husband's birthday. Even if it's just a little, I wanted you both to be happy… to smile. Even if it's just for now. Please take this and give it to him. It is not much, but I'm sure he will be happy that you made him this."

"But I didn-" But Isobel told the woman not to worry and sent the woman off with the cherry pie, and a small basket with fruit. As soon as the woman had left, Cormag and Glen walked towards the stand.

"Oh, good morning, Glen."

"Good morning. This is my brother, Cormag."

"Very nice to meet you, sir." She noticed the armor Cormag was wearing. "Are you… a knight too?" Cormag replied with a simple 'yes'. "Amazing…" She reached out to grab an apple and handed it to Glen. "For you~" She then looked at Cormag. "You… look like a person who enjoys grapes."

Cormag raised an eyebrow. "Grapes?"

"Yes." Isobel smiled and held out a single white grape for him. "Please, try it. I think you might enjoy it." Cormag took the grape and ate it, just to be polite. But, unlike what he had expected, he enjoyed the sweet taste of the green-colored fruit. Isobel seemed pleased by his reaction, and reached out to grab a small cluster of white grapes for him. "These are on the house." She said, as she handed him a small sack with the green fruits in it. "Would you like anything else?" Cormag asked her for 4 pears and two more apples, when they heard someone shouting. As Glen and his brother turned around, hey saw an older man yelling at a child. The child was crying, obviously scared of the man, and this seemed to anger the man even more.

"You dare steal from me, kid?! You think that's normal?! You thought I didn't see you, huh? But I did. You will pay for this, kid. I do not take stealing as lightly as others do!" He then hit the child.

"Hey!" Cormag yelled at the man, obviously angered by the fact the man just assaulted the child. Even though this child had apparently stolen something, that didn't give this man an excuse to hit someone.

Glen and Cormag went over to the man and tried to calm him down. They kept him away from the child, and tried to talk some sense into him. "Sir, please calm down." Glen said. "Hitting a child, no matter his crime, will not do you any good."

"And who are you to tell me what to do? Mind your own business, kid."

"Do you even know who you're talking to? That's General Glen of the Imperial Three!" Cormag yelled.

"Peace, Cormag." Glen looked at the man. The man seemed to be slightly afraid of him now that he knew Glen was under the Emperor's command.

"I-Imperial Three?!"

"Yes, I am General Glen. As you might have guessed, I could get you in a lot of trouble for hurting one of His Majesty's citizens. However, I am willing to let it slide if you apologize to this boy and promise to let him off the hook."

"Y-yes sir… S-sorry kid." He said to the boy, and then ran off. The boy didn't seem to feel any better though, and simply kept crying. Then Isobel came by with an apple in her hand. She kneeled in front of the child – still at a reasonable distance so the child wouldn't feel intimidated by her sudden presence – and held out the apple with a smile.

"You seem like a boy who likes apples." She said in a gentle voice. The boy wiped some of his tears and looked at her, not really sure what to do. "Are you all right?" She then asked. The boy shook his head, and wiped some more tears away with his sleeve. "Oh, dear… does it still hurt?" The boy nodded this time. "I have the perfect solution for that… Do you know what this is?" She held out the apple again, for him to take.

"I-it's an apple…" The child managed to say in between his sobs. He was becoming calmer, but his breathing was still harder than normal.

"This is a magical apple." Isobel corrected the boy. "If you eat this apple, the pain will be less." The boy's eyes grew wide. When he asked her if she was telling the truth, Isobel gave him the apple. "Why don't you tell me? You can have it. And if you like it, you can have some more." It seemed the boy was interested in the apple now, and he slowly took it from her hands. He was still scared, Glen could see it in his eyes, but there was much less fear than when the man had hit him.

After the boy finished the 'magical' apple, he got up and walked to the fruit stand for more. Isobel followed the boy back to her fruit stand so she could give him the fruit he wanted. Cormag and Glen were about to leave so they could train together and start their duties, when a blonde woman showed up.

"General, Emperor Vigarde is asking for our presence."

"Ah, Selena. Of course. Please, excuse me. Cormag." And so Glen left with Selena, another General of the Grado Imperial Amy.


	2. Sunstone

**Chapter 2: Sunstone**

When he was summoned to the emperor's chambers along with the other two Generals, Selena and Duessel, Glen learned the emperor had promoted three new Generals. These men were named Riev, Caellach and Valter respectively. The last one, Valter, was to be his partner, and Glen hated it. He knew Valter, and he had despised this man for a long time. Valter had been one of the Imperial Three, before Selena came along, but he had been banned from his function and the Grado Empire for slaughtering unarmed people. Whatever these three new 'Generals' were up to didn't matter, because Glen knew it was nothing good. However, due to Glen being a general in the emperor's army as well, he could not disobey any orders given to him.

After the emperor finished speaking about the new generals, Glen and Valter were given orders to bring the royal siblings, Eirika and Ephraim, to the king of Grado.  
"General Glen of the Grado Imperial Army, also known as the Sunstone…" The Emperor began.

"Yes…"

"Your orders. Capture the leader of the rebel army in Carcino. Capture Eirika." The man continued. Glen unconsciously tilted his head in confusion. He knew the princess of Renais. He had met her once, and talked to her. What could the emperor possibly want with the princess?

"Eirika… Do you mean the princess of Renais?" He asked, unsure of what kind of answer he could expect from the emperor. Glen tried to study the emperor's emotionless face. He was hoping to find something that could explain how the emperor felt, and why he was giving the Generals all these orders.

"Eirika invaded Carcino. She massacred the citizens of Port Kiris. Then, she fled south. Glen. Go. Crush the rebels who brought ruin to Carcino." As soon as the emperor said these words, Glen's mouth slightly opened. He was surprised by the accusation. That one time Glen had spoken to the princess she had struck him as a very kindhearted person. She couldn't possibly have massacred the citizens of Port Kiris like this. It didn't sound like her at all. Yet, these were the emperor's orders, and as one of the Imperial Three – or six – Glen was in no position to disobey.

After a short silence Glen bowed his head. "…Understood, sire."

All six generals left the room, including Glen. When he was about to walk away through the giant halls, he noticed his brother waiting for him. Glen went over to his brother in silence.

"What did the emperor say, brother?" Cormag asked him. Glen remained silent for a while. He then took a deep breath and told Cormag what the emperor had told him.

"I've been ordered to kill the princess of Renais." Glen said. It was clear to Cormag there was something wrong with his brother. He didn't seem like his old self. It was as if something about this mission was bothering him. "Cormag, I want you to remain here in the capital." Glen continued. "I'll go alone."

Cormag squinted his eyes a little. "If that's what you want, brother, so be it. But you seem troubled…" He thought for a moment and then it hit him: his brother really was worried about his orders. Could it be he knew the princess? Or did he not feel right about Grado invading Renais? Whatever it was, it could damage his reputation greatly, and maybe even cost him his life. Nobody would get away with disobeying the emperor's orders. "Don't tell me you're concerned about fighting the princess of a ruined land!"

With a slight smirk on his face Glen gave in. He knew his brother would find out sooner or later, and it was better to talk to him about it than worry about it alone. Maybe he would feel better if he discussed these issues and feelings with his brother. He knew Cormag wouldn't judge him, and that he'd be honest.

"…Hm… I never was able to slip anything past you, little brother." Glen finally said. "You're right. This duty falls heavily on my shoulders, more than any other." Cormag decided to continue asking questions.

"Tell me, brother, do you know this princess?"

Glen stopped himself from sighing and instead simply nodded. The fact he knew the princess, even just a little, made it so hard for him to carry out this mission. "Yes." Glen admitted. "When Renais and Grado were still close… I met the girl- I met Eirika only once." He thought about the day he had met the princess. "We spoke briefly, but I felt she was a woman of great kindness. I cannot bring myself to believe Princess Eirika is evil. I cannot." These were his true feelings. There was no way the princess had changed so greatly, not even after all that Grado had done to her, her family and her country. Glen couldn't bring himself to kill a person of such kindness and grace.

Cormag knew what his brother meant. Glen was great at reading people, so if Glen said the princess was a kind person, then she probably was. Nevertheless, Cormag knew Glen couldn't disobey the emperor, and so he had to persuade him to follow the emperor's orders.

"…Glen. The emperor has ordered-" He began, trying to convince his brother to kill the princess, despite his feelings, when Glen interrupted him:

"There's the rub, Cormag. That's it exactly. His Majesty has never spoken a falsehood in all the time I've served him. And as a servant of the empire, I am duty bound to obey his orders." There was a hurtful look in Glen's eyes. He was really troubled by all this. His feelings for his duty crashed with the kindness and pity he felt for Eirika. He wanted to talk her; to see if his suspicion was correct or not. "But I can see no reason to think Princess Eirika's heart is any less gentle now."

When Cormag was about to reply, Valter came in. Both Glen and Cormag turned towards the sadistic General, whom had a disgusting smirk plastered on his face. "What are these cowardly mutterings?" As soon as Valter started talking, Glen became angry. However, he tried to keep himself calm. He didn't want Valter to know how badly he was working on his nerves, and Glen had no intention of letting this filthy snake take control of his mission somehow. "It is because you three generals are weak that we others must work so hard. And yet you get the honor of killing the girl. How I long to do your duty for you!" These words angered Glen even more. Who did this rat think he was? For a moment, he lost his cool and insulted Valter.

"Rrrr! Valter, you treacherous swine…" But Valter merely laughed it off. He didn't seem impressed by Glen at all.

"What's this? Is this how you speak toward your peer knights of the realm? Lest you've forgotten, I, too, am a general—the same rank as you." Realizing Valter was right, Glen thought back of the introduction the emperor had done for Valter, Riev and Caellach. This couldn't be right. The emperor he knew would never have those three rats in charge. Something had changed greatly, and Glen knew he had to find out what.

"You wretch. You were cast out from the army for mistreating civilians. What lies have you told to receive pardon and reinstatement at the same time?" Again, Valter wasn't impressed by what Glen had to say.

"Our beloved emperor felt my skills were needed, and his word is law." Valter replied with the same, evil, smirk on his face. "His Majesty has earned my sincerest and most undying gratitude." Glen squinted his eyes a little. What a load of crap. The only thing Valter would ever be grateful for was himself. "And then we have you three Duessel, Selena, and you… The three of you have proven to be unreliable time and time again. We were brought in to plug the holes, don't you see? You ought to thank me, Glen!"

This time it was Cormag who became enraged by Valter's words. "Valter! If you dare insult my brother further…" Nobody would insult Glen and get away with it. Cormag wouldn't have it.

"Come now, Cormag. And what would you do if I did? Would you fight me? Here? Would you show such disloyalty to the emperor?" As much as Cormag would love to fight Valter, beat him up and drive a spear through the man's chest, he knew Valter was too strong for him. He wouldn't stand a chance. That, and the fact that Cormag could lose everything; his position as a knight and possible chance of any type of future after that, and perhaps even his brother's career as a General and knight of the Grado Empire. He was in no position to risk any of these things, and so he remained silent.

Then Glen stepped in. "Peace, Cormag. We are His Majesty's men. We will honor his commands." It seemed Glen had made up his mind about following up on the orders that Emperor Vigarde had given him. But Glen wasn't done talking yet. He turned to Valter, anger written all over his face. "Mark my words, your crimes are neither forgotten nor forgiven."

There was a loud 'hmph' from the obviously insulted Valter, but for now Glen had gotten the man to shut up and leave the two blonde brothers alone. All three of them left the halls of the castle.

Outside, Glen spoke some more with his brother, and told him that he was going to talk to princess Eirika to hear her side of the story before he would do anything else.

And so Glen head out to find the princess of Renais. After travelling for a while with two of his knights, he found her near Caer Pelyn, which held a – to many people unknown – passage to the country of Jehanna. The passage was hidden withing its cracked red bedrock and knife-edged peaks.

After searching the mountains, which was easy on a wyvern's back, Glen had spotted Eirika and her small army. He descended from the sky, as did the two other knights and stopped where Eirika could see him.

"Princess Eirika of Renais. Hold." His words seemed to startle the princess.

"Who? You.. You're General Glen of Grado. We met once in the capital, didn't we? You were very kind to me. However, if you're here now, I have to assume this means..."

Glen nodded. She knew why he was sent here, and this meant he didn't have much time. He couldn't risk Eirika's small army to fight him.

"Yes, it does. I wish our reunion could come under different circumstances. Eirika, I must tell you, I come here on the direct orders of the emperor. I'm to bring to justice the rebel army leader who's been terrorizing Carcino. It's you, Eirika. They say you've been murdering innocents."

Eirika looked at him as if he was mad. Her shock was great, and seemed genuine. "What? Wait! What do you mean? I..." Glen looked at Eirika's surprised expression and knew he had to give her a chance to tell him her side of the story.

"...If you have something to say, I would hear it." He began. His tone was strict yet held a hint of kindness. "I know all too well that Grado has robbed you of your homeland, but even so... I do not believe revenge could drive a woman like you to such depths. And yet... here you are in Carcino with a small army under your command. And the emperor tells us that you massacred everyone in Port Kiris."

"That... That's a lie! I could never..." Glen held up one hand in a calm motion.

"Go on." He said, as if to push her into finally telling him what the truth was to this story. Then a young man with greyish-green stepped forward and interrupted their conversation.

"...This is ridiculous. Believe what you want." The man sneered. "Could one of the legendary Imperial Three honestly be as stupid as this?" Despite being insulted, Glen remained his cool.

"...What do you mean?" He asked, looking at the man who was standing next to Eirika. The man seemed of high birth, perhaps even a prince himself.  
The guy rolled his eyes at Glen's question and tried to explain what had happened.

"Carcino betrayed Frelia and set a pack of mercenary dogs to kill me." He explained to Glen. "And you paint Eirika a rebel instigator? It's an absurd farce. Your emperor commits horrors, and you believe Eirika is a criminal?" Glen raised his head, taking in word for word. From what he had heard so far, his suspicion had been correct. Eirika was still a kind person, and probably hadn't committed any of the crimes she was accused of. The blonde still wasn't completely sure about everything, though, and decided to ask for some extra explanations before he would make a decision regarding his orders.

"...What are you saying?"  
"You truly are blind, aren't you? You're one of the Imperial Three, and yet you can't see your emperor's plan?" That's when the blue-haired woman interfered.

"That's enough, Innes. There's no need to provoke him. General Glen, we've told you what we know to be true, what we've seen first-hand. We don't want to fight you... But if you push us, we will drive you back to Grado with your tail between your legs." There appeared a small smile on Glen's face when he heard Eirika speak. She was tough at heart, but still the same kind person he had met all those years ago. He was also aware he would not stand a chance if he were to fight her small army. He never intended to fight her anyway. Now that he knew that Eirika had been set up – for whatever reason – Glen decided to leave.

"...I see. You...are more observant than you know. I am ignorant of the emperor's designs. General Duessel and I both questioned the wisdom of this war. And if you really are innocent of the crimes attributed to you... Why would His Majesty lie to us? I must know the answer." After he had said these words, Eirika looked at him with another surprised expression. She seemed to be happy and relieved, yet she was still cautious to say or do anything. He couldn't blame her for that, he had been sent to kill her after all.

"So, you...believe us?" Eirika asked him hesitantly.

"The Princess Eirika I met long ago was kind and merciful in spirit." Glen calmly replied. "You've faced relentless hardship, and yet that self-same spirit remains true. ...Let's put our fight aside for now. I will learn the truth. Then I will once again perform the duties of my office. If you have lied to me today, I will hound you to the very grave itself."

Eirika took a deep breath and nodded. Both of them seemed content with this deal. For now anyway. "Very well…" Eirika said, and Glen let her and her small army pass through the mountains.

After Eirika, the princess of Renais, and her group had left, Glen silently put all the pieces of the puzzle together. So far, he had learned that his feelings and suspicion had been correct. So he made up his mind: he was going to confront the emperor about his actions and see for himself what the emperor's reaction would be.

Just as he was about to leave, Valter and two of his men appeared. For a moment, Glen took the time to inwardly curse everything he could think of. This man was the last person on earth that he wanted to run into.

"Glen. Where do you think you're going?" Valter asked. He sounded very content with himself, and amused by the situation he and Glen were in. Glen spit and cursed Valter's name under his breath. He was not ready to discuss anything with Valter, and didn't want to waste his precious time on this scumbag.

"Tsk, tsk. What am I to make of this?" Valter continued, not caring about what Glen had to say. "Those little birds I saw flitting away into the mountains looked vaguely familiar. What do you suppose would happen if it were know you let Eirika escape?" Glen rolled his eyes. This guy was having way too much fun with this. And Glen didn't like his attitude. His time was way too precious. He had to get back to the capitol and talk to Emperor Vigarde about his accusations towards the princess of Renais.

"Do as you will." Glen spat, trying to keep his cool. "I'm returning to the capital. I have questions for the emperor. Clear the path, Valter." He was about to fly off, when Valter stopped him.

"Hold on now. No reason to rush off, is there? After all, this is where you're going to die. See?" Valter raised his lance and a wide, amused and evil grin appeared on Valter's face.

Glen tightened the grip on the sword in his hands. " …What are you babbling about?"

Valter began laughing. "Heh heh… We were a grand trio—the Imperial Three: you, Duessel, and me. But my place among you was stolen, and I was exiled from Grado." Glen's lips flattened into a thin line.

"You slaughtered people who had no intention of fighting. The emperor's punishment was just and warranted." He said in an angry tone. His anger amused Valter, and the man laughed yet again. Glen wasn't getting anywhere with this. Valter was having the greatest time of his life while the blonde, Glen, knew that their battle would be a tough one.

"Heh heh… heh heh heh… After my fall from glory, only desire kept me alive. Desire for revenge. My hatred burned so fierce that I was only barely able to keep my sanity. That hatred keeps me warm still today. Oh, how it burns…" Glen remained silent. What was wrong with this freak? How could anyone simply live and thrive on hate and revenge? Knowing what drove Valter to do the things he did somehow scared Glen a little. A man as crazy as this would not be easily persuaded to take a deep breath and think things over. He needed to come up with a plan to deal with Valter and get out of there. He needed to talk to the emperor, and he was not going to let Valter get in his way.

Just then, Valter spoke again: "Hear me, Glen, wyvern general of the Imperial Three. I live for battle. I crave it. I have no need for peace. That is why you must die."  
Without any other words, Valter attacked Glen. He guided his wyvern and reached Glen within seconds.

"Cur! You're mad!" Glen yelled, and held his sword tightly.

"A battle between generals… Sends the spirit soaring, eh? Come, Glen! Entertain me! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Urrgh…" Glen held his sword up and charged at Valter. With great speed, the blonde general and his wyvern went after Valter. Glen could feel the strong wind blow against his face. His ears became cold from the wind that touched them. He then raised his sword to cut Valter's arm off. His speed and strength, his effort, were, however, in vain. He missed.

Valter laughed at Glen's failed attempt to damage him, and raised his lance. He twirled it around in his hands and then charged at Glen, ending up piercing the blonde in his side with great strength.

Glen's eyes grew wide in shock. The immense pain that he felt in his side started out as cold, like the steel of Valter's lance, but turned into a burning pain as soon as Valter removed the lance from Glen's body. After that, Valter's wyvern attacked Glen's wyvern, and once Valter's wyvern bit Glen's, Valter pierced the wyvern as well. This caused the wyvern and Glen to fall from the sky, leaving Valter with an evil and satisfied smirk on his face.

"Go." Valter said as he turned his attention to his subordinates. "The small fish are yours." He watched as the two wyvern knights that had come with Glen flew off. His own knights followed them, so they could end their lives. "Heh heh… This is merely the beginning. Endless battle, war without end… Heh heh… ha hahahahahahaha!"

As Glen fell from the sky, he could feel the strong wind rush through is hair. His eyes hurt and began to produce tears due to the harsh wind, and so he closed them. He could feel himself fall off his wyvern, which was much heavier than he was.

He didn't feel any pain when he hit the ground. He didn't even know he was on the ground at all. His eyes wouldn't open anymore, and he couldn't figure out if his armed moved when he tried, or if it was his imagination that made him believe his arm moved. At some point, even the burning pain from the wound he received from Valter's lance seemed to disappear. There were no sounds, and no feelings. Even the wind stopped – or so it seemed to him.


	3. Candle

Before I start this chapter, I would like to explain the title again. Candles symbolize many things – one of which is healing or strength. They also symbolize reassurance, enlightenment, and of course, a way to rule out darkness; Light.

I would also like to add that staves cannot heal everything. Think of Ismaires's death (FE8), Uther (FE7) and his and Hector's parents. Hector himself (FE6), Elbert (FE7) and many more. Even if there are healers present, sometimes people cannot be saved. I used that in my story, so please keep that piece of information in mind. Thanks~

**Chapter 3: Candle**

Glen woke up. Or barely. At first, he thought his eyes were open but that he had gone blind. He tried to move his arm, and touch his face with his hand, but his arm wouldn't move. His mind was still foggy, and Glen had trouble figuring out what was going on. For a few seconds, he didn't even know if he was awake at all. His thoughts were brought back to his fight with Valter. His brain got more oxygen, and soon enough his mind worked fine again. He remembered everything now.

Glen's eyes finally opened. He had expected to see the bright light of the sun, or even the soft, white moonlight shining upon his face, but nothing of the sort happened. There were no stars, and there was no sunlight. Instead, there was a ceiling above him. Right next to him, there was a wall.

He turned his head to the left and realized he was in some sort of study room. The room was small, but it had some furniture. There was a small, wooden, desk-like table in the far corner of the room. Some books were stacked on it, and there was a candle that lit up part of the room for him. There was also a window next to the desk, diagonally on the opposite from Glen. Right next to him there was a small bedside table, also made of wood, with another lit candle.

Glen gave it another try to move his arm, and this time he succeeded. He could feel fabric on his arm, and as he looked down, he noticed he was in a bed. So maybe it was a bedroom rather than a study room. He managed to get his arm from underneath the covers and noticed a small scar on it, that he had not yet seen before. For a while he looked at it, but it didn't struck him as strange. It was probably from the fall.

Carefully, Glen tried to sit up in the bed. But as he did, his side began to hurt immensely. There was no way he would give up now, though, so until he actually sat, Glen ignored the pain. When he finally sat up straight in the bed, he looked at his side and noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, and that most of his upper body was covered in bandages.

For a moment, Glen thought back about the battle, and his fall form the sky. How did he ever manage to survive all that? His wounds from the battle must be intense, and with a fall like that he should've have had at least a dozen broken bones. But as far as he could tell, none of his bones were broken. Glen moved both his feet, but there was no pain. His hands seemed fine as well. He then moved up his legs, which caused his side to hurt, but not the legs. As far as he knew, there were indeed no broken bones, just a wound in his side that didn't fully heal yet.

Glen then realized his wyvern had probably not survived the fall. He had been hurt by Valter's lance and his wyvern as well, and fell from the sky a lot harder than Glen did. He let out a sigh. That wyvern had been a great part of his life for a long time. For years he had considered that wyvern one of his greatest friends and companions. And now, he would be alone.

"Unless…" He tried to move and get up from the bed so he could get a better view of what was outside the window in this room. But his side hurt a lot, and every time he tried to move, it felt like he was being stabbed over and over again. Glen had to get to the window, though. Maybe he was in Grado; maybe Cormag had found him. If that was true, he could talk to the emperor and hear His Majesty's explanation for his lies.

Suddenly the door from across the room opened. Glen's turned his head in the door's direction. He noticed a slim figure in the doorway, with long, dark hair. The person noticed Glen was awake and in a sitting position and suddenly rushed over.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! You can't sit up yet. It hasn't fully healed!" He recognized the voice, and once the person got closer he recognized the face as well.

"You're…"

"Glen, please." It was Isobel. This meant he had to be back in Grado. If he could just get to the castle now and talk to the Emperor, maybe he could get Valter banished from the Grado Empire again. Maybe then the emperor would stop this mad war. Did Emperor Vigarde even know about Valter's attempt to kill Glen? He had to tell the emperor that Valter had yet again disobeyed orders – despite the fact that Glen, too, had disobeyed the emperor's orders to kill Eirika of Renais. Valter didn't deserve His Majesty's grace and kindness.

But there was another possibility; one that Glen rather not think about. What if the emperor was the one who had ordered Valter to kill him? If the emperor had found out about Glen's doubt towards the emperor's judgement and orders, he could've ordered that rat to silence Glen. "General." Glen blinked a few times and realized he had been completely ignoring Isobel. He hadn't noticed she was sitting on the bed now too. When he turned his head to face her, her hand surprised him. Isobel touched Glen's forehead, and then his cheek. "You're burning up." Thinking about it, Glen did feel a headache. He just hadn't paid much attention to it. He was still feeling a little faint, but he had no time to waste here. He needed to speak to the emperor. "You should lay back down and rest. Otherwise you'll get sick and the wound might not heal."

"No. I'm fine. I need to see Emperor Vigarde."

"That will be difficult."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not in Grado, General…." Glen looked at her in confusion. How could they not be in Grado? She lived in Grado, so if this was her house then this had to be Grado.

"What are you saying? This… This is Grado. It has to be." Isobel sighed and ran a hand through her dark hair. She seemed troubled to tell him what was going on, and it bothered him. He couldn't waste his time here, no matter where this was. He had to get back to the castle.

"This is Caer Pelyn."

"Caer Pelyn…" Then it hit him. He wasn't brought back to Grado after someone found him. He fell and nearly died in Caer Pelyn trying to fight off Valter. A local must've found him and carried him to their home, not knowing he was a Grado General. "Who… Why?"

"Please, just lay down for now and get some rest. You have a fever, and your wound is still not fully healed." Isobel got up from the bed and smiled. Glen finally laid back down with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "Now, now. You don't have to pout like that."

Right as Isobel was about to leave the room, Glen spoke: "Wait… If this is not Grado then why are you here?"

"I live here…" She said before leaving the room. Glen was left in utter confusion. Didn't she live in Grado? How could she live here if she spent such a great part of her time in Grado, selling fruit and whatnot. And how could she possibly know where he was?

Glen heard the door close and sighed, bringing his hand to his face and pressing his fingers against his forehead. His head began to hurt more now. It was like someone was throwing a ball through his head, or found a blunt sword and decided to hit his head with it repeatedly.

After a while, Glen fell asleep. His many different thoughts and the headache had exhausted him.

The next morning, Glen woke up, feeling refreshed. His headache was gone and the fever probably too. He raised his hand to touch his forehead when he felt a piece of cloth on it. He removed the cloth from his forehead and stared at it for a while. Did Isobel put a wet piece of cloth on his forehead earlier? He didn't remember that. Glen sat up, his side hurt a little less than before, but it was still painful. As he looked around the room again, he noticed all the candles had burned up and there was sunlight shining through the window in the far end of the room. There was also a small tray with some bread, a few grapes and an apple. There was also a glass of water on the tray for him.

Glen reached out to the glass of water, grabbed it, and took a sip.

After finishing the drink, and eating something, Glen tried to get out of the bed. He was sick of laying still all day. He needed to get back to Grado and talk to the emperor about the situation with princess Eirika and the war that was going on.

He managed to get out of bed; it was slow and painful, but he managed to stand. After a few steps, he reached the desk on the other side of the room, but his knees were weak from lying in the bed for so long, and Glen fell against the desk. Just in time he held on to the desk, and kept himself standing. If his knees were this weak, how long had he been in that bed?

Suddenly, the door opened, and a rather shocked Isobel stepped inside. "Oh, my. What are you doing?!" She yelled out. He hadn't heard her yell before. Isobel walked over to the desk and grabbed Glen's arm, guiding it over her shoulder so he could lean on her instead of the desk. "Are you all right?" Glen looked down at her from the corner of his eyes and sighed deeply.

"How long was I out?" He finally asked. Isobel avoided to answer the question by suggesting he would sit down in the living room, but this wasn't what Glen wanted to hear. "How long was I out?" He repeated. There was a silence, but eventually she gave in.

"A week…" He had been out for a whole week? That would explain his weak knees, and the trouble he had walking. It wasn't too bad, he could train the muscles in his legs and be back on his feet in no time. Quite literally too.

"How did you know I was near Caer Pelyn?"

"I didn't. Now, please, will you just sit down?" Glen was guided to a chair in the small room, which was apparently a kitchen, living room and dining room all in one. As he sat down, he dumped his elbow on the table and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand.

"Why are you here?"

"I told you," Isobel began, as she, too, sat down on a chair. "I live here." She grabbed an apple from a basket that was standing on the table and took a bite.

"But how? I thought you lived in Grado." Isobel giggled.

"I do. Well, I did… sort of." She looked at his confused and annoyed expression as she took another bite from the apple. "I grew up here. My father and I moved from here to Grado when I was fourteen years old. He wanted to see the world, make money, and live a luxurious life; three things you will never be able to do here." She began, and stared at the apple. Glen thought she looked a bit lost. He wasn't sure if she was sad or amused, it was such a strange expression she had plastered on her face. "At first, we were doing well. I wasn't used to having many things, but in Grado… everyone seemed to have so much more than us. Jewelry, clothes, just so many things that I never had. I became a little envious and worked hard to save up for those things; to live more luxurious myself." She took another bite from the apple. "But after a while I began to notice that a lot of people had less than what I had here in Caer Pelyn. So many poor people on the streets, begging and stealing. They had no food, no home. They had nothing. I began to feel guilty. And so I stopped travelling through the many cities, and settled down in the capitol city of Grado Keep. I gave away more and more free fruit to others and spent some of my free time baking for them, so they could have a little extra as well." Glen listened to the story with great attention and admiration. He never knew how much time she put into making others happy. He had seen some little things like the cherry pie and some free fruit here and there, but he had never been able to understand why she gave away so much, even when she got nothing in return. "The thing is," Isobel continued, "after a while my father got fed up. He knew I wouldn't be the one to bring him much money, and that I no longer wanted that luxurious life, and so he left."

Glen thought back and realized that the man he had seen the first time had indeed been her father, and not just a volunteer. And now he knew why he had only seen that man once. It bothered him that someone could be so selfish as to leave their own daughter so he could have a more 'luxurious' life. Despite the fact that Isobel was a grown woman, it was still wrong, in Glen's opinion, to just leave your child for something so selfish.

"So, why are you here now?" Glen asked.

"I received a letter not too long ago. It was from my father. He asked me to come to Caer Pelyn and start over. But on my way here… Well, I found you unconscious and bleeding. I have no idea what happened but I couldn't just leave you there, especially because you were still alive." She smiled. "I managed to heal your broken bones and most other wounds with my staff. But the big wound on your side wouldn't fully close. So I treated that here."

"You… You couldn't have carried me here." Isobel laughed.

"Yes. That would be a quite impossible for me." She looked at the door for a second and then turned her attention back to Glen. "I managed to heal most of your wyvern's wounds as well. He is a tough guy. He managed to survive the fall as well. You're both very strong men."

"He carried me here?" Glen asked, surprised and relieved to hear his wyvern was still alive as well.

"Yes. He's roaming around in the mountains for now."

Then Glen suddenly wondered about her father. "Where is your father now?" He asked. He hadn't seen the man once, even though he had been unconscious for a week, the man was gone, even now. "Don't tell me you-"

"When we got here, I noticed a note on the table. It said that he had run off someplace else because he found something more interesting and important." Glen remained silent. He had no idea how to respond to this. How could anyone find something more important or interesting than their own daughter? "I don't need your pity." Isobel suddenly said, surprising Glen with a smile, rather than the sad look he had expected. "I'm not sad. I do not ask for pity. In fact, I figured that at some point this would happen. I never expected much from him." It still bothered Glen that someone would simply put their child aside for something 'more important'. He could not believe there were people who didn't think of their children as the most important thing in their lives.

Then suddenly, Isobel spoke again. "Once you can walk, you can go with him back to Grado."

Back to Grado. The idea seemed very alluring at first, and Glen had to see the emperor. But he slowly began to realize that his time was running out – if he wasn't too late already. Valter had probably talked to the emperor by now, and Glen was surely marked a traitor for not following the emperor's orders. "I'm not sure I can go back to Grado." He suddenly said, after thinking about all the things that would await him if he went back. "But I will find Eirika instead."

"Eirika?"

"The Princess of Renais is fighting against Grado. I must find her. I have to talk to her again and convince her to let me help. Plus…" He made a fist of his hand. "I want to find Valter." And kill him. Those were his thoughts and feelings.

"I see…" Isobel finished her apple and smiled. "I should fix you up then."

"Isobel. Thank you." The woman tilted her head, and asked him what he was thanking him for. "You have been so kind, and you saved my life. I owe you everything."

"You owe me nothing." Isobel replied. "And the only thing I want from you is that you heal."

It had been two days after Glen had woken up, and since then he had tried to walk again. He had practiced for hours, with help of Isobel, and was now able to walk quite well. His wound had also healed a lot faster than he had expected. He went out to see his wyvern, and thank him for carrying him, and for being with him no matter what. He flew around on his wyvern for hours. Glen had really missed his loyal friend, and the feeling of the wind in his face.

After flying for hours, Glen finally returned to Isobel's house. He could smell some food, even from outside of the house. As he walked in, he noticed she was cooking something.

"Ah, you're back. Did you enjoy your time?"

"Yes, very much." Glen replied. "Will you please let me help out somehow? I feel bad about you doing everything for me. I'm not useless." He said, causing her to laugh.

"I do not believe you're useless, General. But I like cooking." She said, before adding: "I happen to be quite good at it too."

After they had finished their dinner and talked for a while, Glen had decided for himself that he would leave the next morning to find Eirika and speak with her again. He would ask for her assistance, and offer her his services. As long as he could do the right thing now, then maybe this ridiculous war would end, and Grado could grow back to its former glory. Then maybe, Glen could live in peace as well, even if it wasn't in his homeland.

"So, you're leaving tomorrow morning?" Isobel asked, as she took a white grape in her hand. Glen explained to her what he was planning to do, and thanked her yet again for taking such good care of him. "I see." She ate the grape.

"I will be out of your hair soon." Glen said, as he began eating an apple.

It was a shame. Despite having spent a lot of her time having to take care of Glen, she had enjoyed it. After Glen had gained consciousness, she had had a good time. It was the first time in months that she had had real company. Even though the reason for Glen being in her house was not something anyone would wish for, she had really enjoyed being able to talk to someone again.

Then Isobel thought about some of the dreams she used to have. She had always wanted to travel the world, to get away from Caer Pelyn. Grado had been the first step, and although she had liked her time there, she wanted something new. "Say… Would you mind if I- no, wait, never mind. It's silly."

Glen raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"No, pay me no mind." Isobel smiled. "Would you like some more wine?"


	4. Revival And Revenge

**Chapter 4: Revival and Revenge**

The next morning, Glen got on his wyvern's back. He felt relieved that he was able to fly again. He had been training for the past few days, and he was ready to travel and find Eirika. He would fight on their side, if they'd have him. He had gotten his sword and lance back from Isobel, who had, apparently, carried those with her when she had found him and stacked them in a closet for him. The feeling of the wind on his face as his wyvern flew up, made him feel at utmost comfort.

He and Isobel had said their brief goodbyes. He had thanked her yet again for saving his life and helping him back on his feet.

He had been flying for only a few minutes, and wasn't too far from her house, when Glen looked back one last time. He noticed something dark sneaking away in the opposite direction of where he was going, and decided to check up on that figure just in case. What if someone had come for him and followed him to Caer Pelyn. What if that person found out he had been staying with Isobel, and had now killed her or harmed her in some other way?

To ease his worry, Glen turned around and flew over to the dark person. He soon realized that the dark figure was a person in red robes and with long black hair.

"What is she doing?" Glen asked out loud, and his wyvern began to fly lower and faster. At some point, Glen stopped his wyvern right in front of the person he knew was Isobel. She looked extremely surprised to see him there; obviously because he had gone the other way – to Jehanna. He noticed some kind of book in her hands.

He had realized why she was going the other way: She wanted to travel; make herself useful in hard times and just see what was out there.

"Glen… Jehanna is the other way." Isobel said, suddenly with a really calm expression.

"Yes. Jehanna is the opposite direction. But," He smiled. "you seem like the type of person who would enjoy an adventure."

"Won't I be in the way?" She asked. It wasn't to put herself down, but it was to make him see he was probably faster and better off without her, seeing as he had a lot more experience in fighting than her, and if he had her tag along, it could cost him a lot of time.

Glen, too, had thought about this. It was briefly, but he had considered the pros and cons, and in the end, he felt like not only he owed her this, but also that she could handle herself quite well. She didn't seem like the type of person to be scared easily, and judging by the tome of light magic in her hand, she was probably capable of saving herself.

"I doubt it." He said. "Besides, it's what you wanted to ask yesterday, isn't it?"

"What? H-How…" She sighed, and bit her lip as she looked away for a while. "I also said it was silly."

"It's not silly." Glen held out his hand, to help her up the wyvern. "So, if you'd please get up here, then we can head out."

Isobel was hesitant yet very excited at the same time. Last night she had indeed been wanting to ask him if he would mind if she tagged along, but as soon as she had begun her question, she regretted it. She figured she would be in his way since she couldn't fight as well as him and her main use would be for healing, which he might not even need. She'd probably slow him down. That, and the idea that he might not want her around anymore, had withheld her from asking the question. Apparently, though, he didn't mind as much as she thought. It gave her a feeling of happiness to know that she could tag along; that he considered her feelings in this matter as well.

Isobel reached out her hand and had Glen help her up the wyvern. As soon as she sat, she tightly held on to her book of light magic. "Good." The blonde said. His voice was really relaxing, even if he didn't say much. "Now relax. I won't let you fall." He joked, and loosely wrapped his arms around her so he could reach the reins and get his wyvern to fly up. At first he noticed she was tense – probably scared because she was not used to flying on a wyvern – but as time passed, Isobel seemed to relax a little.

After flying for over half a day, taking a short cut through the mountains rather than following the path that Eirika and her army had taken, they reached the country of Jehanna. About two or three hours later, they reached Jehanna Hall.

From the sky, Glen could see a major battle going on. It seemed Grado soldiers had taken over Jehanna as well, and they were fighting Eirika and her army. He also spotted a small group of people in the south. It seemed like Ephraim and some other men. It was probably best if he fought too. That way, he'd reach Eirika sooner without risking getting shot in the air.

As the wyvern flew lower, almost reaching the ground, Glen recognized the people who travelled with Ephraim: Knoll and General Duessel.

"Duessel." The middle aged man looked up in surprise.

"Glen… I thought… we received word you had died."

"I almost did." Glen simply replied. "I need to talk to Princess Eirika."

"Why do you need to speak to my sister?" Ephraim asked.

"I am afraid my near death might have caused her more problems than she deserves." Glen stated. "I also feel I may be of some assistance in this battle and others." Glen turned his attention to Duessel. "General, would you do me a favor and keep an eye on Isobel here for me?" He smiled. "She'd do a much better job assisting you with her feet on the ground."

"Of course." Duessel said. He got off his horse and helped Isobel down the wyvern, earning a kind and somewhat shy 'thank you' in reply. Duessel laughed and got back on his horse. "Not a problem, lass."

Glen let his wyvern fly up high again. "Let us make our way through." He said, and flew off with a Silver lance in his hand to kill a few of the Grado soldiers.

"It seems we're on the move, Ephraim." Duessel said with a laugh.

"Let's go." Was all the blue-haired prince said, before charging the enemy himself.

"Stay with me, lass." Duessel said as he looked at Isobel.

"I appreciate it, sir…" Isobel held her book of light magic tightly in her hand. "But I would also very much like to assist you, if that's not too much of a problem." This got Duessel to laugh a little again.

"Whatever suits you. I'll keep an eye out for you."

"Thank you."

The battle continued. Ephraim's group – now existing of the prince himself, General Duessel, Knoll, Glen and Isobel – had been charging and killing their enemies from the south, and were slowly working their way up to the castle of Jehanna, where Eirika's troops were fighting. They had warned the villagers in the west, and were now dealing with a bunch of sword fighters.

Duessel, Ephraim and Glen were fighting easily, gripping onto their lances tightly as they stroke their enemies. Glen would find an enemy and fly down in great speed, striking them in the chest or back in surprise, killing most of them instantly.

Knoll and Isobel attacked the enemies from afar. Knoll would summon large orbs of complete darkness that crept upon the enemy before impounding into them. Isobel, using light magic, conjured wheels of hallowed light into the battle. These wheels of light then combusted when coming into contact with the enemy of her choice.

It was a hard battle for everyone, but after fighting for what seemed light ages, they finally reached the northern part of the desert, and found Eirika and her troops. It seemed Eirika and her army were taking on Caellach, who was standing in the north-west with his troops.

Ephraim saw Eirika, and immediately ran towards his sister. They spoke for a while and then went back to their battle. There were better times to talk than in the midst of a fight like this. Glen couldn't just wait, and flew over to Eirika for a short conversation.

"Princess Eirika."

"General Glen! I… I thought you…"

"Yes. So did I." Glen explained the situation to her, and asked her if he could assist her in their future battles. He wanted this war to be over as soon as possible. Grado needed to be rebuild, and ending the war was the first step to accomplish that goal.

After his short talk with Eirika, Glen ran into Cormag. Both stared at each other for a while, when Cormag finally spoke:

"Brother!"

"Cormag. You're with the princess also?"

"…"

"Good." Glen said with a smile. "You've gotten stronger, judging by the way you handle your spear. Much stronger."

"I thought you had died. That rat Valter—"

"Valter's attempt to kill me failed. Barely, but it did fail."

"That scumbag tried to kill you?! If I get my hands on him…How did you survive? What happened?" Glen sighed and twirled his lance around between his fingers.

"Can we discuss this later, little brother?" He asked on a serious tone. "We have some things to take care of here." Cormag seemed to calm down, if only a little. Glen watched his brother sigh and then look back up at him.

"Of course. Let's kill that bastard!" As Glen watched his brother fly off and help some of the other soldiers in Eirika's army, he looked around. Valter was here. He knew it. And he would get his revenge. He'd kill the man who had betrayed Grado and attempted to end his life. This time, Valter wouldn't get away with it. He'd pay with his life. And Glen would to make sure of that.

The battle seemed to go on with no end in sight, but after what seemed like forever, they managed to defeat and kill Caellach. Now all that was left were Valter and his men in the south east of the desert. Eirika's troops split up: Half of them were going south and attack from the left, while the other half went to the east, to attack from above. That way, Valter and his men would be trapped and forced to fight from two sides. The battle was fierce, and many of the enemy soldiers ended up dying by the hands of the princess' army.

With his lance in his hand, Glen struck down one man after another. He had seen Valter not too far from him, and soon he would be close enough to attack. After killing three more men, Glen saw that Valter had noticed him as well. At first there had been a surprised expression on the man's face, but that shock soon changed into a wide smirk.

"Glen. The Sunstone of Grado." Valter spoke. "What an unpleasant surprise." The man laughed hysterically. "I was convinced I had ended you. I must say that I did not expect you to survive my attack. I must give you credit for that."

"Valter, you disgusting swine."

"Come now, Glen. There is no need for such foul language." He held up his lance with a dark smirk. "Just death."

"And death it shall be. For you."

Valter charged at Glen, a vicious grin on his face as he held his spear tightly in his hand. Glen's wyvern dodged the attack by flying to the left. Glen then made his wyvern turn around and follow Valter and his wyvern. Valter's wyvern turned around too, and now Glen and Valter were facing each other again. Again, Valter charged at Glen, but this time, he flew lower and more on the side so that he could strike Glen in the side again. But Glen knew the trick, and flew up, causing Valter to only scratch Glen's leg in the attack.

Glen then saw his chance. He made his wyvern do a backflip, flying in a circle like a rollercoaster, and then flying underneath Valter's wyvern. Once Glen was under Valter's wyvern, he raised his lance high up in the air, stabbing the mighty beast in the abdomen. He then made his own wyvern fly into another direction while his lance was still in the wyvern's abdomen, causing the abdomen to tear apart until the lance was out.

Valter's wyvern began to fall, like Glen had fallen all those days ago in Caer Pelyn. Despite being the one who was losing this fight, Valter still had that nasty smirk plastered on his face. He didn't seem ready to give up just yet. But this had to end now. Glen did something he had trained for with his wyvern a few years ago, but he had never been able to use it until now. He grabbed his sword from his sheath and dropped his lance from the sky. He then jumped off his wyvern and onto the falling wyvern of Valter. "I think we're done." Glen said, when suddenly Valter, too, got up on his wyvern. Although the beast was falling, it wasn't over yet. Valter tried to hit Glen with his lance so he'd fall off, but Glen used his sword to cut off Valter's hand. As Valter's hand fell from the sky, so did the man's lance. The cry of pain Valter let out sounded like music to Glen's ears, but soon this crying turned into sick and sadistic laughter. "It's over Valter. You're finished." Glen said, and raised his hands. Glen's wyvern used his feet to tightly grab Glen and pick him up. Glen's wyvern then used his tail to hit Valter, which made him fall off his own wyvern and onto the ground. Then Valter's wyvern hit the ground, crushing Valter between the thick sand and the heavy body of his own beast.

Glen's wyvern flew lower near the sand and dropped Glen gently on the ground and landed near his master. The wyvern looked proud of his accomplishments, and waited for his master to walk up to him for a praise.

Meanwhile, the rest of Eirika's troops had taken down Valter's men and the other Grado soldiers. The battle was over, and now they could rest for a while.

"Glen." A deep, masculine voice called from behind. As Glen turned around, still petting his wyvern, he noticed Duessel sitting proudly on his horse. "It seems you got your revenge."

"Not so much revenge as revival, I suppose." Glen answered, and calmly walked over to his friend and colleague.

"Oh? Elaborate your words." Glen explained that, despite having wanted revenge on Valter for his attempt to kill him in Caer Pelyn, he had learned that killing Valter wasn't so much for himself as revenge, as it was for saving others from undergoing the same fate as Glen. He also told Duessel that this insight had made him feel somewhat 'reborn', as it was part of his old self. He was afraid that if he would continue to hate Valter, he would turn into someone similar, and he would do anything to prevent that from happening.

Duessel had been listening with great interest, and eventually nodded with a smile. "That's a good lesson you learned there, Glen."

"Yes, I agree." Glen said, and mentioned for his wyvern to come to him. "I'm going to talk to Cormag for a while."

"Do you want me to look after the lass a little longer?"

"If it's not too much to ask…"

"Don't worry," Duessel said with a short laugh. "she's a fine lass. I'll keep an eye on her for now. Maybe she will listen to some stories this old fool has to tell."

"You're anything but a fool, General." Glen said as he got back on his wyvern.

"So, I am old then? Is that what you're saying?" Duessel joked. "Ah, youths these days." And that's when he rode away.

Glen flew over to Cormag, who seemed to be feeding his wyvern something. Once Cormag noticed that Glen was there, he stopped and petted his wyvern, before turning his complete attention to his brother. Glen got off his wyvern and walked over to his brother.

"Cormag."

"Brother…" There was a quick embrace.

"Cormag, I apologize for worrying you." Glen said. "I still have no idea how I managed to survive, but I'm here now to help end this war."

"Yeah. You did a good job killing that rat out there. That filthy scumbag won't be in our way anymore." Cormag looked at Glen's face before asking: "Say, brother, what happened in Caer Pelyn?"

"As you know, I came to Caer Pelyn to talk to Eirika. I found her in the mountains, and we spoke briefly. In that time I realized that, just as I expected, Princess Eirika had not had a change of heart. Her kindness is still exactly the same as I remembered. And so I knew Emperor Vigarde was wrong, and I decided to go back to Grado and ask for an audience." Glen explained. "But as soon as I had let Eirika and her troops pass, Valter showed up. That treacherous swine wouldn't let me pass, and attacked me, saying I was to die." With a sigh Glen told Cormag that he and Valter fought, and that he and his wyvern were wounded greatly. "We fell down from the sky. I don't even remember hitting the ground. I remember all the pain faded. The noises around me and all other feelings disappeared. I remember thinking I was going to die."

"But you didn't. You survived."

"Yes." There was a small smile on Glen's face as he said that. "I'm not sure how I managed to survive the fall. I remember waking up in a room lit with candles."

Cormag raised an eyebrow. "Candles?"

"Yes. A local found me on her way back to Caer Pelyn. She used a staff to heal most of my wounds, and treated the rest by hand at her home." Glen also told him she had saved his wyvern, healing his wounds as well as Glen's. "I was unconscious for a week. She spent that whole week caring for me."

"That's… It seems you were extremely lucky."

"I was. I still am, and will always be grateful for the time she spent healing my wounds." Glen said. "Speaking of her, I should probably see how she's doing…"

"She's here?" Cormag asked, surprised.

"Yes. I asked her to come along, she seemed interested in bringing the war to an end. She's with Duessel at the moment." Cormag looked at where Glen was pointing, and noticed that General Duessel was talking to a woman with dark hair and red with orange robes. At first he didn't notice, but as he looked for a while longer Cormag began to realize who the woman was.

"Is that… She looks familiar…"

"Isobel." Glen simply said.

"The fruit lady? How…"

"Apparently, she lives in Caer Pelyn. She came to Grado a few years back, but had decided to travel back to Caer Pelyn to meet someone. It was pure luck that she found me when she did."

**Author's note:**

Some quick info: Since they travel on foot (most of them) and carry a lot of things with them (tents, weaponry, food, etc.) it will take Eirika's army days to travel from one point to another. It made most sense for me to use about 9 days for- Glen to recover (7 unconscious, 2 to walk again), and in those days, I believe Eirika and her group would've reached and finished the battle inside the Jehanna Castle. I didn't just do this for the fight between Glen and Valter.

If you google "Fire Emblem Sacred Stones map" you will find a world map with the locations written out for you. If you click on it, you see that Caer Pelyn is #17. Note that Eirika and her group stayed there at least a day to rest, and if you look carefully it's still between the mountains. In my opinion, it will take them about 4 or 5 more days before they reach Hamill Canyon. Then at least 2 more days to reach Jehanna Hall. That's about a week, or a week and two days to be precise; 9-10 days. Even though the game and the map make it seem like small distances, in real life it would take them about at least 4 days to a week to get from place to place, especially since not every has a horse or wyvern (and therefore can't do well on long distances) and also because, in the mountains, it is hard for horses to move. I added half a day for Glen's travelling because he and Isobel are just two people, so they can fly at full speed without having to worry about others being left behind or tired. Also, if they take a route that's more southern than the one you take in the game, you'd save days of travelling.

So all in all, it seemed logical for Glen to end up either in Jehanna Hall, or the Renais Castle (where they fight Orson). I chose Jehanna Hall because of the scene I could do with Valter. This leaves them in chapter 15, three chapters after when Glen was attacked by Valter.


	5. Scars

**Chapter 5: Scars**

Glen and his brother walked through the camp, just chatting. Glen, the older of the two, had missed their regular conversations. Back in Grado, these talks helped him forget about his duties, and now it calmed him during the time of war. After a while they reached the centre of the camp, where the soldiers were sitting near a campfire, and talked and ate to their heart's content. It was almost as if there was no war, when you saw everyone relax like this.

"…And then he fell off his wyvern with his face in the dirt!" Duessel's voice called out loud, followed by his laughter. There was a softer, feminine, laugh echoing with the Obsidian. As Glen looked at the direction where the laughing came from, he noticed Duessel was talking to Isobel. He recognized the story as one of his first training sessions with General Duessel. "He was completely covered in mud and dirt," Duessel continued.

"Now this is an interesting story." Cormag said with a smirk on his face. "We should join, brother." He joked, but began to walk over none the less. Glen followed his younger brother to the scene.

"…And despite the fact he had already lost, he just wouldn't give up." Duessel said.

"What is all this blabbering I'm hearing?" Glen asked on a serious tone, even though it seemed everyone knew he wasn't mad.

"Ah, Glen. I offered to tell the lass some stories of our time in the Imperial Army." Duessel started. "It seems this old soldier can still entertain the ladies."

Glen sat himself down across from Duessel. "Then you might want to tell the lady about that time in I threw you off your horse, and you ended up in the river." Glen said, earning a playful grin from Duessel.

"Ah, but, Glen, my friend, that story might not entertain this fine lady. Besides, that was luck."

"Duessel, I respect you greatly, but it was not luck that earned me that winning."

With another grin Duessel shook his head. "Youths…" he muttered with a smile. "Speaking of luck… How is that leg of yours, I noticed you hurt it in the battle with Valter."

"Wait, you got hurt?" Isobel asked, getting the attention of the men.

"It's just a scratch, nothing serious. It doesn't hurt."

"I see…"

"Glen doesn't complain about pain. He pretends it's not there." Duessel said. "Oh, which brings me to another story. You see, one day back when Glen was still young—"

"Are you calling me old, Duessel?" Glen asked. His older friend responded with a laugh.

"Of course, but not as old as me." He quickly added, before continuing his story.

"Well, since you brought it up, why won't you tell us a story about yourself, Duessel? I'm sure there are a lot of interesting stories about what your first days as a knight of Grado were like."

"Ah, yes… well…. My days were hardly as embarrassing and interesting as yours, Glen. I think we should continue the story-telling for tomorrow, though." Duessel got up from his spot on the ground and smiled at everyone. "I'm an old man, and I really need to feed my horse before I sleep. Good evening, you two." He turned to Isobel. "And good evening to you, too, little lady. I thank you for the fine company and for listening to my many stories."

"Good evening, sir Duessel." She simply replied. "And, I really enjoyed talking to you. Thank you for keeping me company today."

"The pleasure is mine, lass." As Duessel walked off to feed his horse, Cormag took the spot where Duessel had been sitting.

"Hey, sorry for running off today." Glen suddenly said.

"That's quite all right." Isobel said with a smile. "I actually really enjoyed my time with General Duessel."

"Good. Still, I brought you here and then left you out there alone. I apologize."

"It's fine, really."

They spoke for a while; Cormag, Glen and Isobel. They talked about the battle they fought a few hours ago, and the people they had met in the army so far; about the battle Glen had with Valter in Caer Pelyn, and about how Isobel healed his wounds, and many other things. After a while many of the other soldiers had left for their tents. It was now cold and dark out in the desert. Even with the fires they had built in the camp to keep warm, the desert was a harsh place. Nevertheless they had fun and continued their conversation. A little while later, Cormag also left for his tent.

After a bit of a comfortable silence, Isobel asked Glen what he was planning to do after the war. He thought for a few seconds and then replied with:

"I think I will go back to Grado and oversee the reconstruction. Afterward… I'm not sure. How about you?"

"Me? Um…"

"Will you go back to Caer Pelyn? Or maybe Grado? Travel, perhaps?"

"I'm not quite sure myself… I think I might travel. See more of the other countries such as Frelia, or Rausten."

There was a short silence and after a while longer, both of them went back to their own tents. They knew that tomorrow would be another long day of travelling, and perhaps even fighting.

About a week and a half had passed since the battle in Jehanna. The group had travelled to Castle Renais in the west, and fought a man named Orson there. Once they had reclaimed the Renais Castle, they travelled to the east, and reached the Narube River. And at their arrival, a battle emerged. There were soldiers in the north west, some soldiers in the south east and many more on their way to the north east where Eirika and Ephraim had to defeat whoever was leading this army.

They found out that it was prince Lyon of the Grado Empire himself, who led the army. This was not only a surprise to everyone, but it hurt a lot of those who originated from Grado, such as Glen and Duessel. It broke their hearts to see him appear before them in such pain; fighting himself to keep the darkness inside him from hurting others. It didn't make much sense to many of them, but deep inside, Glen knew that whatever the prince had gotten himself into, was going to end the lives of a lot of people; maybe even his own.

Eirika's troops was split in three forces now: 1 Group would go north, kill the soldiers that were there and then move east. Another group – mainly existing of flying soldiers just as Vanessa or Glen – would go east and defeat the enemies that were waiting there. They'd go north and join the other forces when they were done. The last group, the third and biggest group of soldiers, would follow the bridge and travel north east. They'd be the main force, and join up with the first group and second group when all other enemies were defeated. After they join together again, they could defeat Lyon. Although the prince and princess of Renais wanted to talk sense into Lyon rather than kill him, a lot of people knew that talking would do them no good.

Glen was part of the second group. He was to join the other flyers – Vanessa, princess Tana, and his own brother Cormag – and attack the soldiers in the south east. A man named Moulder was sent along with them in case they needed healing. This man was to travel with Cormag, as he couldn't cross the river by himself.

The first group, the group that would travel north, was another small force and existed of Ross, Neimi, Colm, and Marisa. Ross, a boy with amazing power, was to cross the river first and fix the others a quick bridge with some logs. Once the others were able to cross the river as well, they would all take care of the soldiers there and later on join the main group in the east. Isobel was asked to join this group as she could heal them and also do some damage if needed.

The main group existed of the remaining soldiers, including Natasha and L'arachel for healing. The Frelian prince had noticed one of his Frelian soldiers was fighting there as well, and had taken it upon him to talk to her.

The battle had started and the three different groups travelled their own way. Glen flew across the river to the east and noticed a lot of soldiers with sword and axes hiding in the woods and guarding fortresses. But with their group of tough flyers, he knew these guys wouldn't stand a chance. Cormag had gently dropped the healer on the ground and then charged at the enemy. It was a fierce battle, but not too difficult. The Frelian Princess Tana, and her knight, Vanessa, did a good job protecting the healer and fighting at the same time. Cormag and Glen had taken it upon them to do most of the killing, so it'd be easier for the women to kill the remaining forces and protect Moulder at the same time. Once they were done, all of their wounds were healed by Moulder, and they travelled north.

Meanwhile, the first group had crossed the river as well. Ross had thrown some old logs in the water so the others could cross the river safely, and they were fighting off the soldiers. There were a lot of mounted soldiers, but also a lot of axe-fighters and in the mountains were wyvern riders, waiting to attack and slay their enemies.

The archer named Neimi took out some of the mounted soldiers, while the thief, Colm, took care of the axe-using soldiers, stealing whatever he could on the way. Marisa had taken care of the other mounted soldiers and magic users, and Isobel had taken it upon herself to heal everyone back to health, and attack anyone with her light magic that got in her way. She had been given a staff earlier, so it was no problem. Neimi and Ross would later take care of the wyvern riders.

During the battle, Isobel noticed a man sneaking off. At first she had thought it to be Colm, but he was taking care of an axe-fighter, so it had to be an enemy thief. The thief turned around, and for a split moment, she recognized him. Without thinking, Isobel ran after the man. Most of the soldiers had been taken care off already, so the chance of her getting ambushed was small.

"Wait!" She yelled, trying to get the person to stop running. But it was no luck, the man just kept running, and was about to reach the woods on the east side of the peak. Behind the woods, there were small mountains, and if he managed to cross them she would probably not find him again. "Father, please!" The man stopped running and turned around. But rather than talking to her, he grabbed his knife and sword and waited. When Isobel finally caught up to him, she kept her distance. The knife and sword had surprised her. "W-Why are you here?" She asked, catching her breath. She received no answer. "Father, why are you here? With the enemy?" Again there was no answer. It began to frustrate her. "Father, why won't you answer me…"

"Go back." The man said. "Do not follow me."

"But I…" Then the man raised his sword at his Isobel.

"Do not test me. I will attack to guarantee my escape." She noticed a shiny, white, orb-like object that he was hiding. He had obviously stolen it from one of the enemy soldiers so he could sell it. But she ignored it, just as she ignored his words. He wouldn't attack her; she was his daughter.

"Father, please… please, just… come with me." She stepped closer to him, laying her staff on the floor gently. Isobel ignored the fact that her father got into a fighting stance. There was no way he'd harm her.

Then Isobel's father noticed that Isobel was still holding her book of light magic. That's when he snapped. "I won't let you ruin this for me." He said. "You will not take this from me. Not this time." There was no warning, though the words he spoke to her should've been a clue for her. The man ran forward, his knife and sword ready in his hands. Like it was a reflex, Isobel jumped back, and opened her book of light magic. She didn't even realize she was chanting the words until the bright wheels of hallowed light were conjured and fired at her father. The last thing she saw was the sword nearly touching her face and her father being sent flying by the power of her light magic. After Isobel realized what had happened, she ran towards her father.

"Father!"

"Get back, you're nothing but an ill-bred wench." The man said as he got back up on his feet.

Ill-bred? Isobel stopped running, letting the words and the situation slowly sink in. He was insulting her; He had tried to kill her. Her own father, the only person she ever truly loved and looked up to, had tried to kill her.

Tears were forming in her eyes as she realized that, no matter what she would say or do, her father would try to kill her. Why would he kill someone who had always loved him? Someone who did nearly anything he had ever asked her to do, without complaint. Isobel had always known her father had many flaws, but she had loved him nonetheless. Despite all the times he had left her alone to find something that 'sparked his interest' or the fact she never had many friends because they never stayed anywhere longer than a year or two, she had loved him.

Isobel had come to Caer Pelyn for him, despite the fact he had left her alone in Grado. She had forgiven him for not being there when she arrived and only leaving her a note saying he had found something 'more important' to do. Even after all that, he tried to kill her.

Then Isobel realized, he hadn't even said her name. Not once had he said her name. Not now, not even in the past few years. He had always called her 'girl', or 'you'. Never her name.

A tear fell down her cheek. Did he hate her?

Isobel's father began to look around for his sword and knife; both had slipped out of his hands when Isobel's magic had hit him. The knife was closest to him, so he grabbed it and looked back at his daughter.

"Father—"

"Do not call me that." A tear fell down Isobel's other cheek, and surprisingly, it hurt. She brought he fingers to her cheek and felt a stinging pain. She looked at her finger, and noticed blood on it. Her father's sword had sliced her cheek open after all.

"Why…" She looked back up at her father, her eyes wet and her sight blurred. "Do you hate me?" The man smirked, which went on into laughter. But he never answered her question. Instead, he got back into a fighting stance.

The laughter was enough answer for her. "Why would you hate me?" She asked. "What did I do to deserve your hate?" Since the man, yet again, didn't answer her, Isobel took a deep breath. "If you have no wish to tell me, I will respect that. But I do not deserve this." Isobel opened the pages of her tome again. "Good-bye…" She began chanting the ancient words on the pages of her book, ignoring the many tears that were forming in her eyes again. The wheels of bright light magic that were being conjured didn't seem to scare away her father as he ran towards her in great speed. But by the time he reached her, it was too late. The yellowish-white wheels combusted upon their contact with him.

Isobel's father fell on the ground. The knife he held in his hand dropped between his fingers and fell on the ground as well. His eyes were wide open, but his chest wasn't moving; he was no longer breathing.

All three groups had defeated their enemies, and managed to join the main force led by Eirika and Ephraim. They fought with prince Lyon, and after a hard battle, they even managed to win. After all was done, and the camp was set up for the night, everyone was enjoying themselves again. There was food to be enjoyed, the dancer, Tethys, danced for everyone to brighten up their spirits, and people talked about this day. Nobody had been seriously injured, much to their delight, so it had been a good battle.

Despite this, some people were not in the mood for celebrating. Eirika and Ephraim, for example, had locked themselves away for a while, especially Eirika. After their encounter with Lyon it was hard for her to cope with the situation. Knoll, too, had been in his tent the entire time. Duessel had been quiet, even the dancing of Tethys could not lift his spirits. Cormag and his brother were rather silent today as well. After sitting there for about an hour, Glen got slightly annoyed. So he decided to walk around the camp for a while. He hadn't seen Isobel after the battle either. He felt like it was his duty to check up on her, just in case.

As he strolled through the camp, he couldn't find her. She wasn't in her tent, and she wasn't in the healer's tent either. He asked around if anyone had seen her, and it seemed the only one who had seen her was Marisa, one of Gerik's mercenaries. She told him that she had seen Isobel walk to the river, just outside the camp.

Thanking the woman, Glen, too, went to the river, to see if he could find Isobel there. It didn't take him too long to find her. She was sitting in front of the river. Her book of light magic was lying next to her on the ground, and she had her knees pulled up to her chin. Even though he couldn't see her face, Glen knew she was sad.

"Why are you all the way out here?" His voice startled her, as she quickly turned around, reaching for her book. But when she noticed it was Glen, she smiled and turned her attention back to the water.

"I could ask you that same question." She replied. "But to answer the question, it was a bit too crowded there for me."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course." Glen sat down next to her and watched the water for a while. The silence was a little awkward, especially since Glen knew she was not telling him everything. "Have you eaten yet?" He asked and held out an apple for her, which she took from him but didn't eat. "You disappeared after the battle." He began. "Why?" As he watched her expression change, Glen knew she was thinking back.

"I saw him." She began. "…my father." Glen raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak. What was her father doing there? He had no business in this war. "I tried to talk to him, ask him why he was fighting on their side, but he just…" She took a deep breath, and tried to hold back her tears. "…tried to kill me…" The second she said those words, Isobel started crying. "So in the end I had to… to…." She continued, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her robes. "I killed him." Isobel said between sobs. "He hated me… I j-just don't understand."

No matter how hard she tried to understand, Isobel couldn't get over these feelings. Ever since she was little and her mother had left, she and her father had been together. She did almost everything he asked for, and as far as she knew, she had never been a bother or a difficult child. She had spent a few years in a convent because her father had to travel, and had forgiven him for all the times he left with just a note because he found something 'more important' than her. All her life she had just wanted to be loved by her father. At first she thought he loved her and just had a weird way of showing it, but, as the years passed by, she knew he had never loved her at all. He had hated her. But why?

Glen put his hand on Isobel's shoulder, before saying: "Come here…" Immediately, Isobel turned to him and buried her face in his chest as she cried.

"W-Why did he hate me?" She asked, knowing fully well she wouldn't get an answer. Glen soothingly rubbed her back and rested his head on top of hers, trying to calm her down. He didn't speak. Words wouldn't do either of them any good. Glen ignored the fact his shirt was becoming wet from her tears. He just waited patiently for her to calm down and stop crying. He didn't care how long it took, as long as she felt better afterwards. The blonde slowly realized that he was getting fond of Isobel, and it really bothered him to see her hurt like this.

After a good cry, Isobel finally calmed down. Eventually, she sat back up and Glen finally saw her smile again. "Thank you…" She muttered. There were still some tears on her face, and Glen tenderly wiped them away with his thumb. His thumb ever so softly moved down to her lips. It then gently moved over her lower lip, and his face got slightly closer to hers.

He then noticed the cut on her cheek.

"Who did this?" He asked. The question came out a little angrier than he had intended. "Did he do this to you?" He got a simple nod as reply. "Does it hurt?" Glen gently traced the skin below the cut with his thumb.

"Not really." Isobel said.

"Good." The wyvernlord smiled. "But, I think it's best if we get someone to heal it, just in case."


	6. Quick update

Hi everyone. I am here to write a quick update. I am sorry thenew chapter is taking so long. My laptop died and is now away for repair. They didn't know how long it would take for the laptop to be ready so i am notnsure when I am able to upload the new chapter. Knownthat I am writing and will upload the new chapter(s) when i get my laptop again.


	7. Ablaze

Okay, hello my dearest readers, I have returned! My laptop has arrived, and despite not yet having reinstalled my MS, I have been able to find my old files on a USB and continued to write this story in an email... I checked it three times to make sure there are no spelling mistakes in here. As always, please notify me if you see grammar mistakes (or spelling if I missed any) and I hope you enjoy this chapter. The title for this chapter can be found literally (and slightly figuratively) in the story.

I hope you enjoy it~ and I really pologize for making you wait so long.

**Chapter 6: Ablaze**

Glen had brought Isobel to Natasha, one of the healers, and asked her to take a look at the cut. It was nothing serious, even he knew that, but he still wanted her to heal it just in case. When the cut was healed, they talked for a while, but eventually, everyone went to bed. But the blonde wyvernlord couldn't seem to fall asleep. He had always had trouble falling asleep, but it was much worse now. His thoughts kept going back to earlier that day. With a sigh, Glen put his arms behind his head. What a bother. There were other things, better things, that he could think about. Yet, none of those things came to mind. All he thought about was Isobel.

He had never seen her sad before today. The way her expression had changed when she spoke of her father and the hurt he had seen in her eyes had left a deep impression on him. He could still hear her words: _"He tried to kill me…"_ He had seen the sadness; _"He hated me…"_ He could see the hurt in her eyes._ "I just don't understand." _Like she had been stabbed in the back; as if the only thing that had mattered was now gone and her dreams and hopes had been crushed._ "W-Why did he hate me?"_ And then there were tears. The moment she had started crying something inside him had snapped. Glen had always been a compassionate person, but he had never before had the urge to just hold someone and take away their pain or hurt. But as soon as Glen saw Isobel's tears, a part of him wanted to reach out and just shield her away from any pain or sadness.

He hadn't said a word to her then; He had simply let her cry.

Then after a while, she had stopped crying. There were some tears stuck on her face, but she had been calm, and smiled again. Glen had wiped away the remaining tears with his thumb, but for some reason he had been staring at her lips the entire time, and without him realizing it, his thumb was moving across them. There had been no thoughts about kissing her, but as soon as he realized what he was doing, Glen's mind focused on something else; the cut on her cheek.

And now Glen was lying in bed, sighing deeply. He turned around, trying to focus on something else.

What was going on? Why couldn't he just get over it? It wasn't like anything crazy had happened. And yet, he couldn't get it out of his head. What bothered him the most of all was that he had no idea why he hadn't noticed his own actions until the last second. But, despite the ghosts in his mind, Glen decided that since he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for how his thumb had moved over her lips, he'd just have to ignore it. Which he managed to do after a long time of tossing and turning, and finally Glen managed to fall asleep.

A few days had passed and they had arrived at Mt. Nerelas, in the heart of Darkling Woods. The scorching heat caused hurt when breathing, and the sulphur smell that rendered the area made some people feel unwell. It was obvious this place was not meant for human habitation.

"Are those... eggs?" Eirika, the princess of Renais asked in confusion. This raised the attention of all the people travelling with her. There were dozens of eggs spread across the valley.

"Gorgon eggs..." A young girl named Myrrh spoke. "There are so many..." As she said that, some of the eggs began to break. Small cracks in the eggs alarmed Eirika.

"Brother! The eggs! They've started to hatch!" She yelled. Ephraim, Eirika's brother, then gave the orders and split Eirika's army up in three groups: The first group would head north-west and kill all the monsters there. A second group would defeat the monsters and destroy the eggs in the south-east. The third group would head East and then North, and kill the remaining monsters there. All groups were to destroy the eggs before they hatched and caused trouble.

The groups went into their directions and killed off gorgons and other monsters along their way, and destroyed all the eggs they could find. Glen, Duessel and Isobel had been assigned to go with the first group to the north-west of the valley. The fights were hard as the Gorgons fought from up in the sky, but the troops managed well. The heat, however, was taking a toll on some of the soldiers. It was difficult to fight in the intense heat, and this gave the Gorgons a great advantage over Eirika's troops. Nevertheless the princess' soldiers fought on bravely, and many Gorgons and their eggs got killed.

Something the soldier hadn't anticipated was that the hot ground they were walking on wasn't as safe as they thought. Every once in a while the lava underneath the ground would crack open the tiles they were walking on, and damage the soldiers. It would burn their feet or their horse's feet, or set part of their clothing in flames. This made it harder for the group to continue, but it gave them all the more reason to end this battle quickly and get out of the valley as soon as possible.

Isobel and Amelia, a young recruit from Grado, were two of the few foot soldiers that went north. As they followed their comrades they stepped on many hot, red stones. Some of these stones were cracked. The cracked stones were hotter underneath their feet than the other stones, and sometimes they could feel the heat burn through their shoes. Amelia, walking around in armor, seemed to become a little light-headed from the heat. The heavy armor was taking a toll on her. Being a healer, Isobel noticed this. "Amelia," Isobel called the girl's name, causing the blonde girl to turn around. Her face was sweaty and a little pale. "Are you feeling all right?" She asked, despite knowing the girl wasn't well at all. "You look pale, and I have a feeling you're about to faint."

"No!" Amelia said, smiling to hide the truth. "I'm fine."

"Amelia, please, come here for a moment. I have an elixer here that might help you get through this battle." Isobel reached for her satchel as the young recruit walked up to her, when she noticed the cracked tiles that they were standing on were beginning to glow a brighter red. The ground underneath her became hotter than before and in a reflex Isobel pushed Amelia away. "Watch out!" She yelled, trying to run after Amelia when the cracked tiles burst open further. A large flame burst through the cracks in the tiles like a geyser, burning both of Isobel's legs and her robes up till her knees.

Crying out in pain, the female Bishop saw that part of her robes was still on fire. She quickly grabbed the elixer she had saved for Amelia and emptied the bottle on her dress to extinguish the flames and cool down her dress.

Amelia, who had finally gotten a grip on herself, stared wide-eyed at the burned robes of Isobel, that were still attached to her legs. She then ran further into the valley to find anyone to help the woman who had probably just saved her life. It didn't take long for her to spot general Glen, who was fighting off some Gorgons in the air. Amelia waved her arms into the air, hoping to get his attention, when she, too, got attacked by a Gorgon. She fought it off, ending the creature's life with her lance, and yelled loudly for Glen's attention. After the blonde man had succesfully killed all the Gorgons he had been fighting, he flew down to Amelia's assistence.

"What is it?" He asked with a serious expression on his face. The girl seemed a little intimidated by his expression, and the large wyvern he was riding on, but regained her composure and said:

"I need help! One of the healers... she- She got burned badly when fire erupted from underneath the ground. Please, she needs someone to heal her and I cannot carry her. She can't walk. Her legs..." Glen nodded, and flew over to where Amelia had pointed. As he got closer, he noticed a familiar black-haired woman on the ground, trying to back away from the cracked tiles.

"Isobel..." He flew down and jumped off his wyvern. As he got near her, he noticed that the lower part of her robes had been burned by the flames. "Don't move." He ordered when he saw she was trying to move her legs. He rushed back to his wyvern and took out some water he had been saving for after the battle. The water was now lukewarm, making it easier to poor on the fabric without damaging her body even more. "Be still." Glen said as he poured the water on the robes, and then carefully ripped the burned fabric off her legs. The water was to wetten the fabric of her clothing so it wouldn't stick to her skin - in other words, he was trying to make sure he wouldn't rip off part of her skin along with the fabric.

Whimpering in pain, Isobel stared at her burned and exposed legs. Her left eye twitched for a few seconds as she withheld herself from screaming in pain. She breathed in and exhaled deeply, hoping that she could focus on something other than the pain her burns were causing her. This was what she had been trying to save Amelia from; the pain, the burning feeling that wouldn't go away. Isobel's eyes were getting watery.

"A-Amelia... is she-"

"The girl is fine." Glen quickly replied. "But you're not. We need to get you to a healer. Hold on to me." He said and lifted her up from the ground as carefully as possible. Despite his effort to be careful, Isobel still let out a painful moan. "Sorry." Glen said. "I know it hurts but hang in there a little longer."

Glen's wyvern bent down as far as he could, making it easier for Glen to get up while holding Isobel. As soon as he sat down, the wyvern flew up. Glen guided the beast to the nearest healer, Moulder, a Frelian priest sent to heal the wounded. As they reached the priest, the wyvern lord noticed the man was already busy trying to heal four others. Apparently, the battle was almost over, and a lot of soldiers had come to find healers to take care of their wounds. "Priest." Glen spoke, loud enough for the older man to hear. Moulder turned around, looking up at the large wyvern and then at Glen. "Can you heal her?" Glen asked. Moulder looked at Isobel, who, judging by her expression, seemed to be in great pain. The man then noticed her burned legs.

"Oh, my." The man exclaimed. "Bring her here." Glen got his wyvern to bend low again so he could get off without causing the female bishop too much harm. "Before I heal her legs, I need you to pour some water on it."

"I already did that."

"I see. Still, it takes a lot of water to remove the stinging feeling. In fact, water often helps with healing. I will come back in a minute or so," Glen nodded and gently lay Isobel on the ground. Moulder handed him water. "...and when I'm back I will heal her." Doing as he was told, Glen poured more water on her legs. Soon after that, Moulder came back and kneeled down. He held his staff close to Isobel's burned legs. The orb on top of the staff began to glow a bright blue color. Isobel could feel her legs cool down. It was as if cold water had made its way through her skin and was now cooling the inside of her legs. The feeling started at her toes, and moved up to her knees. The pain Isobel felt in her legs and feet was fading and replaced by a pleasant, cold feeling. Her relief was noticable on her face, especially when all the pain was gone, and the burnmarks on her legs had completely disappeared. She felt tired; The pain had worn her out.

Moulder helped Isobel stand, and after helping her do a few steps, she was able to walk on her own again.

"Thank you, father Moulder." She said with a smile. Moulder told her to rest, as she looked tired and the sickening heat in the valley wasn't going to make that any better. The heat in the valley was indeed making her more tired, but for now Isobel had decided to help heal the others before she'd do anything else. "Thank you, but I'd much rather help you heal the wounded before I do that. I have a role in this army like anyone else."

Moulder had agreed to let her help healing the remaining wounded soldiers, while Glen helped finishing off the final few Gorgons that were still in the valley. After the battle was over and everyone had been healed, Amelia came rushing over to Glen.

"General! General!" Worry was plastered all over her face again. Glen got off his wyvern and looked at her questioningly. "Is she okay? Did someone heal her?!" The girl seemed like she was about to cry. She probably felt guilty about the whole situation, even though it hadn't been her fault.

"Ah, yes. She is doing good. The Frelian priest healed her, she is fine now." He pointed into Isobel's direction, who was using her staff to heal some red-haired sword-user. Amelia sighed in relief and then ran towards Isobel to talk to her. Glen petted his wyvern, thanking his friend for the great battle. He then went to the camp that was being set up by the soldiers. After his tent was set up as well, the blonde wyvern lord looked around to find his younger brother, Cormag, and General Duessel. He was in for some nice company and a good conversation. It didn't take long before he had found them and joined them for a late lunch.

"Ah, Glen. Good to see you still in one piece." Duessel commented with a smile.

"You expected otherwise?" Glen replied as he sat down next to his brother.

"Ha ha ha! You youngsters will surpass old men like me one day, but today is not that day." The older General said with a smirk, before taking a sip of the drink he had. "Say, Glen." The man continued, suddenly. "That little lass, Amelia, told me something had happened to Isobel while we were fighting the Gorgons. I was hoping you could tell me if she is all right."

Glen grabbed a piece of bread and nodded. "She is fine." He said. "She wanted to help Amelia with something, but realized the floor was unstable and pushed Amelia away right in time, but was too late to escape the flames herself. The flames came out like a geiser, apparently. Her clothes and legs were burned up to her knees."

"That must've hurt a great deal." Cormag said and Duessel nodded at his words.

"That poor lass. What happened after that?"

"Amelia ran around to find someone to help her, but everyone was too busy. At some point, she found me and asked for my help. She probably knew Isobel and I are friends." Glen stuffed some bread in his mouth. After he finished eating that piece of bread, he continued: "I ended up ripping off the burned part of her robes so they couldn't burn her even more or get stuck to her skin. I then got that Frelian priest to heal her." Glen stuffed some more bread in his mouth after explaining what had happened.

Cormag grinned. "So, what you're really saying is, you ripped off her clothes." Duessel began to laugh hysterically. Glen, on the other hand, nearly choked on his food, which caused the older General, Duessel, to laugh even harder.

"Not like that." Glen managed to say in between coughs. "Urgh, Cormag, you..."

"Ha ha ha!" Duessel's laughter earned some looks from the other soldiers. "Glen, my friend, you cannot deny that your story sounds a little shady."

"Shady?" The blonde had finally stopped coughing and looked up.

"It's not like you, brother, to go after a lady like that." Cormag continued with the grin still plasted on his face. Glen sighed and shook his head. This was absolutely ridiculous. Sure, he knew they were teasing him, but it still bugged him they would say these things.

Duessel took another sip from his drink and then put the cup on the ground. "I do understand it, Glen." He said, and by the tone he was speaking with, Glen knew Duessel was extremely amused by whatever he was going to say next. "You're not getting any younger." Glen sighed and shook his head. And there they'd go again. "And the lass is quite similar to you." He continued. "...Mature, compassionate, and kind, but strong at heart. Oh, and I almost forgot; she's a beauty too." The older general added with a grin. The blonde simply rolled his eyes.

Then cormag suddenly said: "But, Duessel, what if my brother is looking for someone who's a little different." This gained a laugh from Duessel.

"Oh? Such as...?" Cormag thought for a second.

"Princess Eirika, perhaps?" Both Cormag's brother and the General looked at him when he suggested the princess of Renais.

"Are you serious?" Glen asked with a groan. He was not pleased with this converstation at all.

"Well, despite how the princess acts in front of most people, she strikes me as a little childish. Maybe he's into that."

"Ah," Duessel nodded and crossed his arms. "I see what you mean. But the princess is young and a little naïve. Maybe a little too young. And as we all know, Glen is... not that young anymore." The general laughed loudly before taking a bite of a pear. Suddenly, Duessel looked into a different direction and smiled. "Speaking of pretty ladies, there's our favorite lass." He said, making the two blonde brothers look up into the direction the General was speaking. They saw Isobel walking toward them. "It seems you had some trouble back in the valley." The man continued, referring to her still-ripped robes.

"Oh, yes... I'm all right now, though, I'm having trouble finding new clothes to wear." She smiled sheepishly. "I suppose I will just have to buy new robes in Rausten." Quickly, Isobel sat herself down next to Duessel and across from the two brothers.

"So, we're headed for Rausten now, huh..." Cormag, the younger brother, sighed. "I hope that things take a turn for the better." It would take them a few days to travel to Rausten, and once they were there, they might be able to get the final of the Sacred Stones. With that stone, they would have the power to seal the evil they were facing; The Demon King.

Not long after the lunch, everyone went about to do their own thing. Isobel went to check on some people to see if everyone was properly healed and thought about taking a nap after that, as she was still tired from the fight earlier that day. Glen and Cormag ended up sparring together, while Duessel went to spar with Ephraim, the prince of Renais.

As the evening progressed, and the brothers had finished sparring, Glen, the oldest of the two, decided to take a stroll through the camp before heading to his tent. On his walk, he passed the healer's tent. Neimi, a pink-haired archer and Colm, a thief of some sort, came out of the tent right as Glen passed by. Colm was scolding the girl for getting hurt again in the battle field, and told her to be more careful. His words had upset Neimi, who then started crying. In all his time in the army, Glen realized, he hadn't once seen the girl without tears.

"Oh, Glen, good evening." He heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Isobel." The blonde smiled politely. "How fare you this evening?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

"How about your legs? No more pain, I hope."

"No, they no longer hurt. Father Moulder did a great job healing me. Oh! I never actually thanked you for taking me to him." Glen held up his hand as to tell her it was okay.

"It's quite all right. I'm glad you're fine now." He chuckled. "But it seems you are getting yourself into quite some trouble lately."

"So it seems." Isobel laughed a little. "How long do you think it will take us to get to Rausten Court?" She suddenly asked. Glen thought for a while and then shrugged.

"About three days, I think. Why do you ask?"

"If it takes us that long I think I should ask the other female soldiers if they have any spare clothes..."

"Oh, yes. I apologize for that." Glen immediately said.

"No, no. You don't have to apologize. You actually did the right thing, so don't worry."

"I see..." Glen smiled. "Well, if you say so. I will be heading to my tent now. You should rest too." Isobel nodded. She had completely forgotten to take a nap, like she had planned earlier. She had been too busy healing the last few soldiers.

"Yes. Please, sleep well."

A few days after battling the Gorgons and destroying their eggs in the valley of Mt. Neleras, Eirika's troops finally arrived in Rausten, the country home to princess L'Arachel, whom seemed overjoyed to be back in her castle. Everyone was tired from travelling for so long. In the past few days they hadn't had a proper night of sleep, and mostly spent their time marching to reach the castle in time. Everyone was desperate for a good night of sleep, or at least some proper rest; no fighting and no travelling.

So, L'Arachel and her uncle, Mansel, had assigned everyone a room in the castle and given them the time to rest. During the time they had been given to rest, Isobel had gone into town to buy herself some new robes, similar to the robes she had worn before and even the same color: Red. But as it became darker outside, and people were getting ready to go to bed, a soldier reported an attack. And so the whole group was called to fight again. Despite the fact that Eirika's troops were still tired, they knew they could win this if they played it well.

**Author's comment: **

In order to thank you for the long wait I tried to make this chapter a bit longer than usual. AND, just for fun, I sprited Isobel (for those who are interested) so I changed the story cover. I would like to explain some things in this quick 'Author's Comment' or note or whatever. The thing about the burned legs and clothes for example. I was taught that you can never remove clothes when they're burning or when something really hot is poured over it because the clothes might sort of 'melt' and attach themselves to your skin. If you rip off something attached to your skin, there is a chance you will rip off your skin along with it. Which is why you should always take a lukewarm shower first. That way the water will cool you down and eventually you will be able to seperate the fabric from your skin.

Another thing is the lukewarm water. Many people use cold water when trying to cool down the burned skin. DON'T DO THAT. The difference in temperature between the burn and the cold water is too much and then your skin will 'close' all openings (pores etc) so there is no way for the heat to get out. This means you will be - sort of - burned from the inside out. That is super dangerous. Always use lukewarm water because it cools down, but won't shut down your pores and other openings in the skin so that you can heal. (This might be a bit strange to read and I have NO way to explain this in English other than how I did, so I apologize if the words are wrong (but the effect really isn't).)


	8. Blood Beryl

**Chapter 7: Blood Beryl**

The soldier that had called in the attack had been ordered to go back to his post, while Eirika called in her troops. Everyone stopped what they were doing and left their rooms to join the fight. Glen and his brother, Cormag, had come to join the main force. There it was explained that Riev, one of the 'new' generals of Grado, had ordered an attack on Pontifex Mansel. Glen squinted his eyes. Just hearing Riev's name made him want to smash his fist into a wall. That Riev was sent here to steal the Sacred Stone of Rausten and it bothered the wyvern lord. He figured that emperor Vigarde had sent the man, but it was still difficult for Glen to believe that the emperor had changed so much. Of course, after seeing what the Demon King had done to prince Lyon Glen knew all too well something horrible had happened to the emperor as well.

_"Brother..." _

Every time they got closer to defeating the demon king, they got closer to destroying the Grado Empire even further; closer to destroying his home. But Glen knew better than anyone there was no stopping it. And deep inside he didn't **want** to stop it. Ending this war was the only way for them to rebuild Grado to its former glory. It was the only way for them to get things back to how they were. "Brother, are you all right?" Glen blinked twice and then turned his head to face his younger brother.

"Oh, yes. I was just lost in thought for a moment."

"I see..." Cormag frowned a little. "What were you thinking about?"

"Riev." Glen simply answered. "His presence here bothers me. And this darkness... I can't see a thing."

Glen turned his attention to the darkness. He couldn't see very far. Riev had done well, chosing the night to help them in their battle. But despite it being smart, it was also something only a coward would do; attacking people in the middle of the night and hiding away in the darkness, rather than fighting them face to face. It was pathetic.

"Listen up, everyone." Ephraim, the prince of Renais, yelled. He quickly reviewed the plan with everyone. The troops were split up in two groups. There would be a small force in the north west of the court that would fight the enemies that were coming in the castle through the north east entrance. After they had rid those halls of the enemies, that group would split up in two groups as well. The first group would stay in the north to guard the entrance, in case new enemies would show up, while the other group would join the main forces in the middle of the court and help them protect Pontifex Mansel.

And once that small force would join the main force, they'd split up into two groups yet again. One group would protect Mansel, while the other group would head south in order to kill Riev, who was hiding in the darkness. In the end, you'd have three groups: One small group in the north defending the North-east entrance. Another group in the middle, protecting Pontifex Mansel. And the third group would go south and fight Riev.

Overall, it was a good plan, but the main force needed to be patient for the other group to join them.

Glen and Cormag were on the main force, with Ephraim, Eirika and their knight, Seth. Among the rest of the soldiers in the main force were Innes and Tana, the prince and princess of Frelia, Colm the thief and Neimi the archer. Franz, a young cavalier of Renais and his older brother, Forde, were in the main force too. So was Kyle, Forde's best friend and also a knight of Renais. L'Arachel and Moulder were in the back to do the healing, and Dozla, who was L'Arachel's most trusted friend and companion, was there to protect the both of them.

In the north were the Frelian pegasus knights, Vanessa and Syrene. Duessel was there as well, together with Gerik, a mercenary, Marisa, a swordswoman and Tethys, the dancer. There were some magic users such as Lute and Artur, and Joshua, the prince of Jehanna, was there, readying his sword for the battle. Isobel and Natasha were selected to heal the group if needed.

As the battle began, the group in the north, lead by Duessel, headed to the east. They fought the enemies off, one at a time. There were many sword users, and a lot of them fell at the hands of Duessel's lance and the anima and light magic that Lute and Artur used. Tethys danced for the units to revive their spirits and give them the energy to continue fighting. Despite the fact it was dark, and it was hard for them to see the enemies they were up against, the group managed to kill all the enemies in their path. Duessel gave the order for the split up, and let Gerik take over command. Gerik stayed behind with Joshua, Marisa, Natasha and Artur, while the rest went south to join the main force.

Once Duessel, Lute, Isobel, Tethys, Vanessa and Syrene had arrived in the middle of the court and joined the main force, Ephraim gave the order for the new split up. Ephraim would head out to the south with Forde, Kyle, Glen, Cormag and Duessel. They would bring Isobel as healer and backup, and Lute as well. Eirika and the others were to stay behind and protect Mansel.

Once Ephraim and the others in his group reached the south, he ordered Glen, Cormag and Duessel to go to the left, while he, his knights and Lute would go to the right. Glen twirled his lance around in his hand once and then went further into the darkness. Duessel followed him, and together with Cormag they attacked the enemies hiding in the darkness. At some point, Glen could hear the sinister laugh of Riev. But due to the darkness, he couldn't see the man yet.

"Where are you hiding, you coward?" Glen muttered to himself as he tried to find Riev. Glen flew a little lower so he'd have a better view of his enemies when a tower of light-infused rings conjured near him which then promptly rose high up into the air and nearly crashed into Glen. Immediately, Glen flew to the side, barely escaping the light-infused rings.

There was some dark laughter coming from below, catching Glen's attention. "Heh heh heh... One Sacred Stone remains. Once it is destroyed, darkness will consume the world. What will you do? Will you cower in fear? Heh heh heh..." It was Riev, talking to himself out loud. The man didn't seem to realize he had just attacked Glen. Finally, Glen spotted the Bishop standing not too far from where he was flying.

"Riev." Glen caught the man's attention. "Pah, what a coward, hiding in the darkness like this."

"Grrr... Glen, the Sunstone. You're supposed to be dead. Valter killed you!"

"If that's so, then what am I doing here?"

"It does not matter. If that idiot Valter can't finish the job, I will have to do it for him." The man began chanting some ancient words, and just like before, a tower of light-infused rings began to conjure. Glen ordered his wyvern to fly higher; Riev's attack missed them just in time. Glen's wyvern flew towards Riev in great speed. The blonde held onto his lance tightly as he tried to pierce the lance through the bishop's body. But, instead of actually hitting the man, Glen simply flew past Riev. This caused Riev to laugh and tell Glen he had lost his touch. What he didn't realize was that Glen had already turned around in the air and was coming towards Riev. The man's eyes grew wider as he realized there was no escape. Soon after that, Glen's lance pierced Riev.

"Gah...!" Glen was about to finish the man off, when more soldiers showed up and surrounded him. Suddenly, Riev smirked. "Heh heh heh...No! No! It's been so long. I got carried away. I'd best stop and withdraw for now. Follow me. Come to Darkling Woods... The Demon King awaits your pleasure..." And with that, Riev disappeared, and so did his followers.

Glen squinted his eyes and sighed. His frustration was great; the bastard had gotten away before Glen had the chance to finnish him off. Ephraim and his knights came by quickly. Their enemies had left as well, and by the sound of laughter coming from inside the castle, it seemed Pontifex Mansel was safe and sound. Cormag flew high next to Glen.

"That bastard!" Cormag hissed. "Did you get him?"

"Almost. I was too late to finish it." Glen replied. He was obviously annoyed with himself for letting the bishop escape. "But we'll finish him off next time. He wants us all to come to Darkling Woods... Apparently, the Demon King awaits us there."

After the battle, everyone got a quick check-up from the four healers and then went to bed. It was very late by now, and the fights had worn out the troops. Glen walked towards the room he had been assigned after wishing his brother a good night's sleep. For a moment, he felt like just letting himself fall on the bed and sleep; he was that tired and annoyed from the battle.

That night was the first night in many months that he slept without waking up until someone knocked on his door. When he opened his eyes, Glen saw the room was lit by the sunlight. Was it late in the morning already? Glen got out of the bed and opened the door to his room, only to see Cormag standing there.

"Brother! Are you up fo- wait... Don't tell me you just woke up."

"Don't worry, I won't." Glen said. "What did you want to ask?"

"Duessel and I - and probably some others - will head into town soon. Interested to join us?" Glen shrugged, and told his younger brother he wouldn't mind going into town. "Good. We leave in half an hour."

Half an hour later, the majority of the troops had gathered outside the castle to make their way into town. Some wanted to go shopping, some just wanted a walk to relax, while others simply joined for the company. Glen had met up with Duessel and Cormag, but noticed the fourth member of their group of friends wasn't there. As the three of them followed the other troops, the wyvern lord kept looking around.

"If you're looking for the lass, she's with Amelia." Duessel said making Cormag grin.

"Honestly, brother..." Glen could only sigh, when he finally spotted Isobel with the blonde girl. They were walking ahead of Glen and seemed to be having a good chat.

"Say, since they are having some... how do youths say it... 'girl time'?" Duessel began, not sure how to put his thoughts into words. "How about we have some good old 'man time'?"

Glen raised an eyebrow. "Old man time?" He asked, with a slight smirk on his face. "Duessel, please, I'm really not that old."

"Pfft, the two of you are ancient, compared to me." Cormag joked, earning unpleased looks from both his brother and General Duessel.

"Come now, Cormag, I'm sure your parents didn't raise you like that." Duessel spoke, earning a nod from Glen, who agreed.

"Whatever. What did you have in mind when you said 'old man time'?" Cormag asked.

"I didn't say 'old man time'." Duessel sighed deeply, but a smile appeared on his face none the less. "Some good training, some drinking and food. Perhaps even the company of some nice ladies." He laughed a little. "How about we start with some food and drinks. This old man could go for some meat."

"Oh, while we're at it, I need a new lance." Cormag said. "So if we pass an armory, I'll go in to buy one."

Amelia and Isobel were talking and giggling as they walked through the town. At some point they reached a busy market, where they enjoyed a variety of food such as fruit and delicacies made by the locals, as well as shopping for new clothing and weapons. The two discussed many things: They told one another about their pasts; Where they grew up, and the good and bad times they had gone through. But, they also discussed simple things like their favorite foods and colors, their friends and even their dreams. At some point, the two stopped in front of a stand that sold home made jewelry. It was not something you saw on markets, usually - neither Isobel nor Amelia had ever seen a jewelry stand on a market back in Grado - but Rausten was a different country, so maybe it was more common here.

"Oh, look!" Amelia said, pointing at a necklace. It was a very simple necklace, with a lot of green colored beads. The blonde girl picked the necklace up to show Isobel.

"The beads and your eyes have a similar color." Isobel stated, somewhat surprised. "It's beautiful. I think it would look really good on you."

"You think so?" Amelia asked, getting a smile and a nod in reply. "I do kind of want it... do you think I should buy it?"

"If you want it, Amelia, then I think you should. This might be your only chance to buy something this nice until we end this war." Suddenly, Amelia frowned and asked if Isobel thought they would stand a chance against the Demon King. With a sigh, the raven haired Bishop replied: "I think... we should have faith. If we don't do it, who will?" She smiled.

Suddenly, a woman bumped into them. "Oh, I'm so sorry." The woman said. She had black hair, and dark red eyes. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's all right." Amelia said with a smile. "It's very crowded here. Right, Isobel?" But Isobel didn't reply. Instead, she just stared at the woman. After some silence, the mysterious woman apologized again, and turned around to leave.

"Hold on." Isobel said, and the woman stopped to turn around and look at them. "After all these years, you still run from us- from me." Amelia looked up at her friend in confusion.

The woman smiled awkwardly and apologized. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, if you will excuse me-"

"Please, wait." Isobel said. There was a certain strictness in her voice as she spoke. "Please, do not take me for a fool and please do not walk away from me. I deserve some answers, don't you think?"

"Uhm... Isobel..." Amelia stood there, awkwardly. She had no idea what was going on, and Isobel's sudden 'change' of attitude somewhat frightened her. She seemed a lot more serious and stern now. Angry too. But there was also some hurt or sorrow hidden in her voice. Amelia could hear it. But what was this about?

The mysterious woman sighed and ran a hand through her dark hair. "I suppose I do..." The woman's voice was soft. "And to be fair, we can both agree you're anything but stupid." There was another silence, which Isobel ended by asking the woman a question.

"Why did you leave..." The sadness Amelia heard before was even stronger in this question. She realized by this question, and the appearance of the woman, that she was probably Isobel's mother. Quietly, she put the necklace back down and walked away. She didn't feel comfortable being there.

"You... grew up great without me..." The woman began. "You didn't need me... You had him-"

"I did need you... you just left- why would you leave?" Isobel took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

The mother bit her lip for a second before replying: "I fell in love... I could not stay there. I just... I could not..." There was another silence.

"He hated me, did you know that?" She muttered at some point. Her mother had a strange expression on her face, and Isobel couldn't figure out whether she was surprised to hear this or not. "He tried to kill me at some point." This time, her mother did seem genuinely surprised, but she still didn't speak. "Do you... do you know why he hated me?" Isobel then asked, when she suddenly realized something. Her mother left them for another man, and her father had called her 'illbred'. Could it be that he had never been her father at all? "Because I have a feeling you do..." Isobel continued.

"Honestly, I am not sure I know what you're referring to..." The woman said, but her voice cracked a little.

"Was he... Am I... urgh, please, don't lie to me and tell me what I want to know!" She raised her voice, and it actually scared her her a little. She wasn't one to lose her patience easily.

This time, the woman took a deep breath. "You're right." She suddenly said. "He is not your real father..." The words hit Isobel a lot harder than she had expected. She knew her mother would say this, yet, when she actually did tell Isobel, they hurt.

"Wh-Why did you not take me with you..." The words came out as a whisper. The other woman bit her lip again.

"When I left, I wanted to take you with me, but... You had always favored him over me. You were young, but I could see you adored him very much. I thought... No, I didn't think. When your father found out about you, I had to make a quick decision. He was going to harm my-" She sighed. "We took off without you because your father wouldn't let me take you." After the woman was done talking, she ran a hand through her hair and played with it awkwardly.

Out of nowhere, a voice called from behind. "Ah, Isobel."

"I really have to go now," The woman suddenly said, taking the opportunity to leave. "I really can't help you any further. You..." She noticed three people coming there way. "You seem to be doing well." And with those words the woman hurried away.

"Wait!" But it was too late. Isobel let out a deep sigh.

"Hey there, lass." Duessel's voice called from behind. Isobel turned around and faked a smile. "Who was that?"

"Ah, nobody interesting." She said quickly. The market was still full of people, but so far it seemed nobody had heard their conversation. Most people probably didn't even know she had talked to her mother at all. "I was looking for a necklace for Amelia, and the woman helped me pick." Duessel seemed interested and asked her which necklace she had chosen. Isobel held up the necklace with the green beads. "This one. It's similar in color to her eyes." Isobel bought the necklace to ensure they would believe her story. "So, uhm, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Ah, we were out for some lunch." Duessel replied. "And now Cormag is looking for a new lance, and Glen and I are looking for a drink. You can join us if you want." The raven haired bishop shook her head.

"No, thank you." She said with a smile. "I will go find Amelia and give her this. Have fun." She waved and then left to find Amelia, who had left during the conversation with Isobel's mother.

That evening, when everyone was back in the castle, Glen looked around for Isobel. Despite what she had said about the woman, he didn't believe her. For some reason, he thought her smile had been fake, and the woman who had left so rapidly must've had something to do with it. After looking for a long time, it occurred to him she might already be in her room. As he reached her room, the blonde man knocked on the door. He heard a faint 'come in' and opened the door, before letting himself in.

"Hey." He said. Isobel was sitting on the bed, reading some kind of book. She probably bought it on the market, earlier today. Glen carefully closed the door, and then leaned against the wall across from her.

"Good evening." Isobel said, looking up from her book with a smile. She closed the book and put it besides her on the bed. "Is something wrong?" She asked as soon as she noticed the serious expression on Glen's face.

"I was about to ask you that same question."

"What? Oh..." There was a smile on her face, but Glen wasn't sure what to think of it. "And here I was hoping nobody noticed."

"Who was she?" Glen boldly asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"That... was my mother." Isobel said. She noticed the somewhat confused look on Glen's face and giggled. "Don't worry, I didn't expect it either." She moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "I asked some questions, and I think I finally understand now."

"Understand what?"

"Why my father didn't like me." There was still a smile on her face, and it even looked genuine. It pained Glen to see her trying so hard to be tough.

"Why are you smiling?" Glen carefully asked. "Isn't it... I mean-"

"Because I finally understand the situation. It was never really my fault... And I guess he might not have 'hated' me as much as I thought. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lived this long." Isobel picked up the book from the bed and got up, placing the book on the bedside table. "I have made peace with it. There is nothing to be sad about." She turned around and sat back down on the bed. "What is up with that expression, General?" Glen blinked in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"You seem to be more sad about this than me. That's not right." She got back up from the bed and walked over to Glen, before poking his cheek with her finger. "You really should smile more."


	9. New Update

Hii everyone. I am so o so so so sorry for taking so long with the new chapter. I have gotten a new job and work a lot and i have started to work out so im gone a lot now. I apologize that it takes so long but once i have a week where i dont have to work so often i will work on the chapter i promise .

As a bit of a compromise i thought it might be fun for you (if youre interested) to give me a sentence or a small theme or something that you would like to see in the next chapter. It might make it easier to wait because youll see something of your own in the story

So something they say or do or maybe a small scene or a theme. Just tell me and ill see if i can work it out ^^ do keep in mind the nrxt chapter is about the battle with riev at the black temple.

Again sorry for the wait and have a nice day ~


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